Pediatrics Professor Karen Fairchild and Cardiology Professor Randall Moorman are co-PIs on a recently re-funded R01 collaboration with 3 other large academic NICUs to develop vital sign analytics as early warning systems for sepsis in preterm infants in the NICU. Dr. Moorman previously helped to develop the HeRO monitor which displays a heart rate characteristics score predicting sepsis; displaying the HeRO score was shown, in a multicenter blinded RCT of 3003 preterm infants, to significantly reduce sepsis-associated mortality from 20% to 12%. In the R01 entering its 8th year of funding, Fairchild and Moorman, together with other UVA Center for Advanced Medical Analytics researchers and colleagues at Columbia University, Washington University St. Louis, and University of Alabama Birmingham, are developing next-generation sepsis analytics incorporating analysis of pulse oximetry data. The goal of the work is to capture subtle changes in heart rate and oxygenation patterns that predict imminent (next 24 hours) clinical deterioration before clinicians would recognize a change in physiology using conventional monitoring. This score and display system will get clinicians to the right bedside at the right time and assist in decisions about whether to start antibiotics or simply watch the baby carefully for signs of illness. The ultimate goal is to reduce mortality and morbidities associated with sepsis without increasing antibiotic use for non-bacterial infections or non-infectious conditions.
Neonatology Research Team Receives NIH Funding for Sepsis Predictive Analytics
July 27, 2022 by pmb3fz@virginia.edu