Precision Dosing of Oral Ibuprofen for PDA, A Pilot RCT

Overview

Newborns born early are at risk for a serious health problem called patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). PDA is a passageway between heart and lung that can cause life-threatening complications such as bleeding in the brain or even death if it remains open and large. When closure of PDA is needed, doctors make every attempt to do it as soon as possible. Ibuprofen is the best drug to close the PDA, but it only works for 50% of small newborns. The investigators have shown before that small newborns handle ibuprofen differently and the amount of active ibuprofen that reaches their blood can be very unpredictable. Studies have shown if enough ibuprofen reaches the body, it can close the PDA. Therefore the investigators designed this study to see whether it is possible to give each newborn the right amount of ibuprofen that their body needs to close the PDA. The investigators will compare two ways to give ibuprofen in a small number of newborns: 1 - standard amount of ibuprofen to everyone, which is the usual care or 2 - ibuprofen doses that will be changed based on how much active ibuprofen has reached the body and how well the newborn's PDA is closing. The investigators will then compare the number of PDAs closed in each group and closely monitor any possible challenges for this new practice. By doing this project, the goals can be summarized as below: A. Primary goal: To determine if it is feasible to successfully run a larger study in the future. B. Secondary goals 1. To assess how well and how safely the personalized (MIPD) method works, using a tool called WAPPS-PDA to guide dosing. 2. To compare the effectiveness and safety of the personalized method with standard ibuprofen dosing. 3. To identify drug levels in the blood (Cmin, AUC0-24, AUC0-72) that are associated with complete, partial, or no response to treatment.

Study Design Overview: This clinical trial is a single-center, pilot, randomized, controlled, triple-blind study designed to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of model-informed precision dosing (MIPD) of oral ibuprofen compared to standard dosing for the treatment of Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) in preterm neonates (≤27+6 weeks gestational age). The trial assesses both operational feasibility and clinical outcomes, with a focus on the use of a pharmacokinetic (PK) prediction module provided by the Web-Accessible Population Pharmacokinetics Service-PDA (WAPPS-PDA). • Standard Dosing Arm: Participants in this arm receive the standard oral ibuprofen regimen used in the unit. Treatment begins with an initial loading dose, followed by two smaller doses administered at 24-hour intervals. While PK samples and targeted echocardiograms are collected at the same intervals as in the precision dosing arm, these data points do not influence dosing decisions. • Model-Informed Precision Dosing (MIPD) Arm: Participants in this arm initially receive the same loading dose of ibuprofen as those in the standard dosing arm. Subsequent doses are adjusted using real-time PK data and echocardiographic evaluations through the WAPPS-PDA tool. This tool employs a Bayesian forecasting model to analyze blood samples collected at 6, 30, and 54 hours post-initial dose, combining these results with the PDA response level noted in the targeted echocardiograms to dynamically adjust dosing. Dose adjustments are reviewed every 12 hours to ensure tailored treatment based on the neonate's specific pharmacological response, optimizing the chances of effective PDA closure.