Browsing by Author "Trachtenberg, Felicia"

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    Design and Rationale of the Fontan Udenafil Exercise Longitudinal (FUEL) Trial
    (Elsevier, 2018) Goldberg, David J.; Zak, Victor; Goldstein, Bryan H.; McCrindle, Brian W.; Menon, Shaji C.; Schumacher, Kurt R.; Payne, R. Mark; Rhodes, Jonathan; McHugh, Kimberly E.; Penny, Daniel J.; Trachtenberg, Felicia; Hamstra, Michelle S.; Richmond, Marc E.; Frommelt, Peter C.; Files, Matthew D.; Yeager, James L.; Pemberton, Victoria L.; Stylianou, Mario P.; Pearson, Gail D.; Paridon, Stephen M.; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    The Fontan operation creates a circulation characterized by elevated central venous pressure and low cardiac output. Over time, these characteristics result in a predictable and persistent decline in exercise performance that is associated with an increase in morbidity and mortality. A medical therapy that targets the abnormalities of the Fontan circulation might, therefore, be associated with improved outcomes. Udenafil, a phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor, has undergone phase I/II testing in adolescents who have had the Fontan operation and has been shown to be safe and well tolerated in the short-term. However, there are no data regarding the long-term efficacy of udenafil in this population. The Fontan Udenafil Exercise Longitudinal (FUEL) Trial is a randomized, double blind, placebo controlled phase III clinical trial being conducted by the Pediatric Heart Network in collaboration with Mezzion Pharma Co., Ltd. This trial is designed to test the hypothesis that treatment with udenafil will lead to an improvement in exercise capacity in adolescents who have undergone the Fontan operation. A safety extension trial, the FUEL Open-Label Extension Trial (FUEL OLE), offers the opportunity for all FUEL subjects to obtain open-label udenafil for an additional 12 months following completion of FUEL, and evaluates the long-term safety and tolerability of this medication. This manuscript describes the rationale and study design for FUEL and FUEL OLE. Together, these trials provide an opportunity to better understand the role of medical management in the care of those who have undergone the Fontan operation.
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    Height Versus Body Surface Area to Normalize Cardiovascular Measurements in Children Using the Pediatric Heart Network Echocardiographic Z-Score Database
    (Springer, 2021) Mahgerefteh, Joseph; Lai, Wyman; Colan, Steven; Trachtenberg, Felicia; Gongwer, Russel; Stylianou, Mario; Bhat, Aarti H.; Goldberg, David; McCrindle, Brian; Frommelt, Peter; Sachdeva, Ritu; Shuplock, Jacqueline Marie; Spurney, Christopher; Troung, Dongngan; Cnota, James F.; Camarda, Joseph A.; Levine, Jami; Pignatelli, Ricardo; Altmann, Karen; van der Velde, Mary; Thankavel, Poonam Punjwani; Chowdhury, Shahryar; Srivastava, Shubhika; Johnson, Tiffanie R.; Lopez, Leo; Pediatric Heart Network Investigators; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Normalizing cardiovascular measurements for body size allows for comparison among children of different ages and for distinguishing pathologic changes from normal physiologic growth. Because of growing interest to use height for normalization, the aim of this study was to develop height-based normalization models and compare them to body surface area (BSA)-based normalization for aortic and left ventricular (LV) measurements. The study population consisted of healthy, non-obese children between 2 and 18 years of age enrolled in the Pediatric Heart Network Echo Z-Score Project. The echocardiographic study parameters included proximal aortic diameters at 3 locations, LV end-diastolic volume, and LV mass. Using the statistical methodology described in the original project, Z-scores based on height and BSA were determined for the study parameters and tested for any clinically significant relationships with age, sex, race, ethnicity, and body mass index (BMI). Normalization models based on height versus BSA were compared among underweight, normal weight, and overweight (but not obese) children in the study population. Z-scores based on height and BSA were calculated for the 5 study parameters and revealed no clinically significant relationships with age, sex, race, and ethnicity. Normalization based on height resulted in lower Z-scores in the underweight group compared to the overweight group, whereas normalization based on BSA resulted in higher Z-scores in the underweight group compared to the overweight group. In other words, increasing BMI had an opposite effect on height-based Z-scores compared to BSA-based Z-scores. Allometric normalization based on height and BSA for aortic and LV sizes is feasible. However, height-based normalization results in higher cardiovascular Z-scores in heavier children, and BSA-based normalization results in higher cardiovascular Z-scores in lighter children. Further studies are needed to assess the performance of these approaches in obese children with or without cardiac disease.