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Perioperative/Postoperative ComplicationsCERBERUSNCT06133842

CEReBral AutorEgulation in Non-cardiac SuRgery and Relationship to Postoperative DeliriUm State

An observational study of Perioperative/Postoperative Complications and Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction, run by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at 1 site in United States.

Recruiting

Looking for participants now. Contact the study team or a site below to ask about taking part.

Sites and contacts
Official record
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Trial summary

The goal of this observational study is to learn the how to determine the mean arterial pressure(MAP) or blood pressure level to be maintained during non-cardiac surgery for optimal brain health in patients above the age of 60 undergoing major non-cardiac surgery. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 60 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
What is being tested?
Intra-op EEG and CO data collection
How many people
100 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
17 Apr 2024to Jul 2027
Phase
Observational
Are there results?
Not yet: the study is under way

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 60 years and older
  • All sexes
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Adult, Older adult

Study population: Patients above the age of 60 scheduled to undergo major non-cardiac surgeries including but not limited to vascular, hepatobiliary, or complex spine surgeries requiring general anesthesia with arterial catheterization for monitoring.

Who may be able to join

  • Age ≥ 60 years
  • Undergoing any non-cardiac surgeries including but not limited to vascular, hepatobiliary, or complex spine surgeries requiring general anesthesia with arterial catheterization for monitoring

Who cannot join

  • Non-English speaking (Justification: cognitive assessment instruments are not validated in a sufficient range of languages, and the research team lacks polylingual capabilities or the financial resources to hire interpreters for the duration of all proposed assessments.)
  • Cognitive impairment as defined by total MoCA score < 10 (justification: baseline cognitive dysfunction will confound primary outcome measure)
  • Significant visual impairment (justification: will be difficult for patients to draw individual components in MOCA score)
  • Emergent surgery (justification: insufficient time to initiate intervention)
  • History of stroke within the last 3 months (justification: cognitive dysfunction secondary to stroke can confound outcome measures

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.

Samir M Kendale, MD contact

(617) 975-8500

skendale@bidmc.harvard.edu

Zaid Hussain, MBBS contact

zhussai1@bidmc.harvard.edu

United States1 site, 1 recruiting
  • Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

    Boston, Massachusetts, 02215

    Samir Kendale, MD, skendale@bidmc.harvard.edu

    Recruiting

Other trials in United States

About this study

Official title: CEReBral AutorEgulation in Non-cardiac SuRgery and Relationship to Postoperative DeliriUm State - CERBERUS Trial

The goal of this observational study is to learn the how to determine the mean arterial pressure(MAP) or blood pressure level to be maintained during non-cardiac surgery for optimal brain health in patients above the age of 60 undergoing major non-cardiac surgery. The main question[s] it aims to answer are:

  • Is there a way to tailor the blood pressure to be maintained in such patients during surgery for optimal brain health using non-invasive monitors that check the brains electrical activity, the electroencephalogram(EEG) monitor, and the brain's blood oxygen levels, the cerebral oximetry(CO) monitor?
  • How much does this optimal blood pressure level vary between patients?
Read more

Participants will be asked to:

  • Complete a questionnaire at the time they enroll into the study, as well as a daily questionnaire to help determine their level of thinking and brain health. This questionnaire will be administered by a member of the study team.
  • They will also have an EEG and CO monitoring sticker placed on their foreheads. This will be connected to a monitor that will collect this data just before, during, and after their surgery. The data collected through these monitors will help us with our study goals.
Read the detailed description

Study Procedures:

Pre-operative:

  1. Assessment by an anesthesiologist, and brief patient education about cerebral autoregulation and post-operative delirium.
  2. MOCA baseline cognitive assessment by study team member.

Intra-operative:

  1. Perioperative EEG Monitoring: EEG stickers will be applied to patient's forehead in pre-op holding area and attached to SedLine Root Monitor (described below in perioperative EEG and Cerebral Oximetry10 (CO) monitoring) at least 5 minutes prior to start of induction.
  2. Perioperative CO monitoring: NIRS stickers will be applied to patient's forehead in pre-op holding area and attached to SedLine Root Monitor (described below in perioperative EEG and Cerebral Oximetry (CO) monitoring) at least 5 minutes prior to start of induction.
  3. Live collection and processing of data: During surgery, the SedLine Root Monitor (which collects EEG \& CO data) and the Operating Room's en-suite Phillips Intellivue monitor (which collects MAP data during surgery) will both be connected to a BIDMC-issued, IS-approved laptop or tablet running the ICM+ software suite. The SedLine Root Monitor and Philips Intellivue Monitor will output their data locally via cables to the system running the ICM+ software suite, which will process and integrate this data in real-time. This processed information will only be collected passively during the surgery, and will not inform or affect clinical care in any way.
  • Perioperative EEG and CO monitoring All patients will undergo EEG and CO monitoring during intraoperative, and possibly the postoperative period (up through 24 hours/until extubation, whichever occurs earlier). The EEG and CO leads will be removed from the patient and monitoring stopped at one of three end-points: a) 24 hours after the end of the surgical procedure b) at time of extubation c) when patient is shifted out of the PACU; whichever comes first. This is to ensure that comprehensive data on cerebral autoregulation during the critical perioperative period is available for any given patient for analysis. Electroencephalograms and CO will be recorded using the SedLine monitor (Masimo Corporation, Irvine California). SedLine is a FDA approved, patient-connected, 4-channel processed electroencephalograph EEG and Cerebral oximetry monitor designed specifically for intraoperative or intensive care use. It displays electrode status, EEG waveforms, Density Spectral Array (DSA) and bilateral regional cerebral oxygen saturation.

The SedLine EEG electrode array records approximately at positions Fp1, Fp2, F7, and F8, with reference approximately 1 cm above Fpz and ground at Fpz. The spectrograms will be computed using the Multitaper method from the unprocessed EEG signals recorded at a sampling frequency of 250 Hz. Individual spectra will be computed in 3-sec windows with 0.5 sec overlap between adjacent windows. Multitaper spectral estimates have near optimal statistical properties that substantially improve the clarity of spectral features.

The CO sensors are applied on the forehead.

  • EEG Display The EEG waveforms reflect electrical activity mostly from the front of the brain. The display is configured to contain 4 data input sources, acquired from the 4 sensor electrodes: L1, R1, L2, and R2.

Patient State Index (PSi)31,32 The PSi is a processed EEG parameter that is related to the effect of anesthetic agents, and takes into consideration, among other factors:

  1. changes in power in various EEG frequency bands
  2. changes in symmetry and synchronization between critical brain regions
  3. the inhibition of regions of the frontal cortex.

Density Spectral Array (DSA)31,32 The DSA contains left and right spectrograms representing the power of the EEG on both sides of the brain.

Multitaper DSA32 When using a Multitaper DSA, EEG data are transformed into the frequency domain, which may provide a better display of EEG features.

  • Post-operative:

Postoperative pain assessment

Postoperative pain will be assessed with a standard 11-point scale and by pain medication intake. Pain scores will be obtained by asking the subject and also collected from the medical record when documented clinically. Pain medication intake will be extracted from the medical record.

Delirium and cognition assessment Once consent is obtained, a trained research team member will proceed with baseline preoperative and postoperative cognitive, delirium, and depression assessments.

Baseline assessment

This will be conducted by study staff at the time of consent. If the patient cannot complete baseline assessment at time of consent, it may be conducted at a later time before surgery as per the patient's convenience on hospital premises. This will include the assessment of cognitive function using the:

  1. Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)11, supplemented with
  2. Days of the week (DOW) \& Months of the year (MOY) for additional attention testing
  3. Delirium Symptom Interview (DSI) to capture symptoms of delirium
  4. Confusion Assessment Method (CAM)12,13: Using data from the cognitive testing and DSI, the researcher will complete the long CAM which includes the diagnosis of delirium using the CAM diagnostic algorithm.

These detailed assessments will take no more than 45 minutes. If this baseline assessment shows a MoCA score <10, the subject will be excluded from the study.

Postoperative assessment On each postoperative day during the hospital stay a research team member will administer a

  1. Standard cognitive assessment, including DOW, MOY, CAM, and DSI. These daily assessments will take approximately 10-15 minutes.
  2. If a subject is intubated postoperatively, a CAM-ICU will be performed instead of a CAM assessment.
  3. If a participant declines to complete a daily standard cognitive assessment, trial staff will offer the 3D-CAM as a shorter alternative. If the participant refuses both the daily standard cognitive assessments and the 3D-CAM, trial staff will use the CAM Only, a conversation-based method to score the CAM.
  4. If daily assessments have plateaued for 3 consecutive days (CAM negative each day), they will then only need to be completed every other day, as long as the subject remains CAM negative, until the date of discharge.
  5. In addition, medical charts will be reviewed every day until discharge or day 30 (whichever occurs first) to identify delirium. Any events related to delirium during the hospital stay and at the follow-up time points (1 month and 6 months) will be recorded on REDCap eCRF. Events such as trying to get out of bed, verbal abuse, falls, pulling tubes, inappropriate behavior during the hospital stay as noted in the medical charts will be recorded. At phone follow-up: prolonged rehabilitation, cognitive decline will be recorded.

Remote assessments After the patient consents to participate in the study and opts in for phone call assessments, the study team may use the t-MoCA as a substitute to the MoCA for remote assessment of baseline cognition. Additionally, for in-hospital assessments, study investigators may use the a-MoCA as a substitute to the MoCA if an inability for in-person visits arises. Sites may conduct substitution assessments via phone or site-specific HIPAA approved telemedicine video conferencing platform. The a-MoCA and the t-MoCA are identical assessments but differ in naming, where the term "a-MoCA" is used for in-person assessments, and the term "t-MoCA" is used for assessments conducted via phone. Both assessments exclude the visuoconstructional tests of alternating trails, drawing of cube and clock, and animal naming.

Discharge assessment On the day of discharge, the MoCA, with DOW and MOY, the CAM, and the DSI will be completed. (If the discharge assessment was performed in anticipation of discharge on a specific day but the discharge was delayed (i.e., logistical reasons, clinical reasons), this will not be considered a protocol deviation.) If the patient is discharged before a discharge assessment can be done, study staff may contact patient to administer t-MoCA along with DOW and MOY, CAM and DSI.

Follow-up assessment Follow-up assessments will be administered at 1 month (+14 days /- 7 days) and 6 months (+/- 30 days) after the date of surgery. These will be completed by a research team member via telephone and will include a telephone version of the MoCA (t-MoCA), with DOW and MOY, the CAM, SF-12, FRAIL scale, functional activity scale, and long term pain scale and the DSI. These assessments will be done at the patient's convenience and ability to finish the evaluations.

  • Delirium treatment The delirium research assessments will not be provided to the treating clinicians. Treating clinicians will assess and treat delirium per the standard of care.
  • Data Collection

Patient related information such as baseline characteristics including, comorbid conditions, medications, surgical and anesthetic data will be obtained from Society of Thoracic Surgery database, Anesthesia Information Management Systems and patient's medical record. EEG changes, waveforms and other related data will be recorded from the monitor. Additionally, to track other important factors related to outcome and protocol adherence, study investigators may extract clinical data from the medical record including, but not limited to:

  1. Anthropometric data (e.g. age, height, weight, race/ethnicity)
  2. Admission type
  3. Medications
  4. Pain scores
  5. Respiratory physiological data
  6. Hemodynamic data (e.g. heart rate, blood pressure)
  7. Laboratory data
  8. Complications data
  9. Hospitalization-related time data (e.g. admitting diagnosis, hospital and ICU length of stay)
  10. Vital status These data will be merged with subject cognitive assessment data. All data will be stored on password-protected computers, in locked file cabinets and/or offices, or REDCap.
Being tested
Intra-op EEG and CO data collection
Keywords
EEG, Cerebral Autoregulation, Intraoperative Monitoring
Medical subject headings
Postoperative Complications, Postoperative Cognitive Complications, Emergence Delirium

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Intra-op EEG and CO data collectionDiagnostic test

    Also called Massimo SEDLINE Root Monitor

    Intra-op EEG and CO data will be collected non-invasively. This will not guide or affect patient care of procedure in any way.

Study groups in NCT06133842
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Enrolled ParticipantsPatients above the age of 60 undergoing major non-cardiac surgery requiring invasive MAP monitoring as standard of care. They will be monitored intra-op using non-invasive EEG and CO monitors, which will be correlated with MAP. They will also undergo baseline and followup assessment for post-operative delirium using the standardised CAM and MoCA tools administered by study staff.
Receives: Diagnostic Test: Intra-op EEG and CO data collection

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. CA state and lower limits of autoregulation (LLA):

    The primary outcome will be reliability in the form of an "uptime". This is a calculation of the percentage that each signal provides a feasible measurement, and a percentage that each method of autoregulation calculation produces an output.

    Previous studies have demonstrated a high frequency of uptime, upwards of 90%. CA state and lower limits of autoregulation (LLA) will be calculated using two distinct methods, both previously published and enumerated in the Statistical Consideration section

    Measured: 1 week

Secondary outcomes (7)
  1. Duration of burst suppression in EEG

    Determine the length of burst suppression on EEG monitoring for each patient. Burst suppression is defined as a period of isoelectric activity in the EEG waveforms.

    Measured: 1 week

  2. Incidence of Postoperative Delirium (POD)

    POD will be diagnosed by our trained research members based on the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) algorithm postoperatively until discharge.

    Measured: Within 1 week

  3. Cognitive function

    Postoperative cognitive dysfunction at 1- and 6- months will be assessed with telephone version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (t-MoCA) with a maximum positive score of 22. The higher the score, the better the patient's cognitive function.

    Measured: 1 month and 6 months

  4. Hemodynamic stability - Vasopressor Usage

    Metrics of total vasopressor dose in norepinephrine equivalents

    Measured: 1 week

  5. Hemodynamic stability - Time outside ideal systolic range

    Time above/ below 90-130 mmHg systolic blood pressure in minutes

    Measured: 1 week

  6. Hemodynamic stability - Area Under Curve

    Area under the 65 mmHg mean arterial blood pressure curve in units of mmHg minutes

    Measured: 1 week

  7. Hemodynamic stability - Coefficient of Variation recorded as a simple integer

    Coefficient of variation of mean arterial blood pressure will be collected from the intraoperative record and medical records to be quantified and compared.

    Measured: 1 week

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted18 Nov 2023
  2. Study start17 Apr 2024
  3. Primary completionDec 2026 (estimated)
  4. Study completionJul 2027 (estimated)

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Observational
Observational model
Case only
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrolment
100 participants (estimated)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT06133842
Sponsor's protocol ID
2023-P-000843
Acronym
CERBERUS
Status last verified
Sep 2026
First submitted
17 Oct 2023
Last updated
30 Sep 2026
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
Yes
Individual data sharing
No

Publications

  • Aries MJ, Czosnyka M, Budohoski KP, Steiner LA, Lavinio A, Kolias AG, Hutchinson PJ, Brady KM, Menon DK, Pickard JD, Smielewski P. Continuous determination of optimal cerebral perfusion pressure in traumatic brain injury. Crit Care Med. 2012 Aug;40(8):2456-63. doi: 10.1097/CCM.0b013e3182514eb6.

    PubMed 22622398
  • Mathieu F, Khellaf A, Ku JC, Donnelly J, Thelin EP, Zeiler FA. Continuous Near-infrared Spectroscopy Monitoring in Adult Traumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review. J Neurosurg Anesthesiol. 2020 Oct;32(4):288-299. doi: 10.1097/ANA.0000000000000620.

    PubMed 31306264
  • Hori D, Brown C, Ono M, Rappold T, Sieber F, Gottschalk A, Neufeld KJ, Gottesman R, Adachi H, Hogue CW. Arterial pressure above the upper cerebral autoregulation limit during cardiopulmonary bypass is associated with postoperative delirium. Br J Anaesth. 2014 Dec;113(6):1009-17. doi: 10.1093/bja/aeu319. Epub 2014 Sep 25.

    PubMed 25256545
  • Gaudino M, Rahouma M, Di Mauro M, Yanagawa B, Abouarab A, Demetres M, Di Franco A, Arisha MJ, Ibrahim DA, Baudo M, Girardi LN, Fremes S. Early Versus Delayed Stroke After Cardiac Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. J Am Heart Assoc. 2019 Jul 2;8(13):e012447. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.119.012447. Epub 2019 Jun 19.

    PubMed 31215306
  • Sun LY, Chung AM, Farkouh ME, van Diepen S, Weinberger J, Bourke M, Ruel M. Defining an Intraoperative Hypotension Threshold in Association with Stroke in Cardiac Surgery. Anesthesiology. 2018 Sep;129(3):440-447. doi: 10.1097/ALN.0000000000002298.

    PubMed 29889106
  • Wachtendorf LJ, Azimaraghi O, Santer P, Linhardt FC, Blank M, Suleiman A, Ahn C, Low YH, Teja B, Kendale SM, Schaefer MS, Houle TT, Pollard RJ, Subramaniam B, Eikermann M, Wongtangman K. Association Between Intraoperative Arterial Hypotension and Postoperative Delirium After Noncardiac Surgery: A Retrospective Multicenter Cohort Study. Anesth Analg. 2022 Apr 1;134(4):822-833. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000005739.

    PubMed 34517389
  • Maheshwari K, Ahuja S, Khanna AK, Mao G, Perez-Protto S, Farag E, Turan A, Kurz A, Sessler DI. Association Between Perioperative Hypotension and Delirium in Postoperative Critically Ill Patients: A Retrospective Cohort Analysis. Anesth Analg. 2020 Mar;130(3):636-643. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000004517.

    PubMed 31725024
  • Whitlock EL, Vannucci A, Avidan MS. Postoperative delirium. Minerva Anestesiol. 2011 Apr;77(4):448-56.

    PubMed 21483389
  • Saczynski JS, Marcantonio ER, Quach L, Fong TG, Gross A, Inouye SK, Jones RN. Cognitive trajectories after postoperative delirium. N Engl J Med. 2012 Jul 5;367(1):30-9. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1112923.

    PubMed 22762316
  • Liu X, Akiyoshi K, Nakano M, Brady K, Bush B, Nadkarni R, Venkataraman A, Koehler RC, Lee JK, Hogue CW, Czosnyka M, Smielewski P, Brown CH. Determining Thresholds for Three Indices of Autoregulation to Identify the Lower Limit of Autoregulation During Cardiac Surgery. Crit Care Med. 2021 Apr 1;49(4):650-660. doi: 10.1097/CCM.0000000000004737.

    PubMed 33278074
  • Nasreddine ZS, Phillips NA, Bedirian V, Charbonneau S, Whitehead V, Collin I, Cummings JL, Chertkow H. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment, MoCA: a brief screening tool for mild cognitive impairment. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2005 Apr;53(4):695-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2005.53221.x.

    PubMed 15817019
  • Inouye SK, van Dyck CH, Alessi CA, Balkin S, Siegal AP, Horwitz RI. Clarifying confusion: the confusion assessment method. A new method for detection of delirium. Ann Intern Med. 1990 Dec 15;113(12):941-8. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-113-12-941.

    PubMed 2240918
  • Ely EW, Margolin R, Francis J, May L, Truman B, Dittus R, Speroff T, Gautam S, Bernard GR, Inouye SK. Evaluation of delirium in critically ill patients: validation of the Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit (CAM-ICU). Crit Care Med. 2001 Jul;29(7):1370-9. doi: 10.1097/00003246-200107000-00012.

    PubMed 11445689
  • Montgomery D, Brown C, Hogue CW, Brady K, Nakano M, Nomura Y, Antunes A, Addison PS. Real-Time Intraoperative Determination and Reporting of Cerebral Autoregulation State Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy. Anesth Analg. 2020 Nov;131(5):1520-1528. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000004614.

    PubMed 33079875
  • Goettel N, Burkhart CS, Rossi A, Cabella BC, Berres M, Monsch AU, Czosnyka M, Steiner LA. Associations Between Impaired Cerebral Blood Flow Autoregulation, Cerebral Oxygenation, and Biomarkers of Brain Injury and Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction in Elderly Patients After Major Noncardiac Surgery. Anesth Analg. 2017 Mar;124(3):934-942. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000001803.

    PubMed 28151820

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

An observational study of Perioperative/Postoperative Complications and Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction, run by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at 1 site in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 2 inclusion and 5 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 30 Sep 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

Contact Samir M Kendale, MD ((617) 975-8500, skendale@bidmc.harvard.edu), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

CA state and lower limits of autoregulation (LLA): (time frame: 1 week). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT06133842, which also lists 21 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 30 Sep 2026.

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