Inhaled Nitric Oxide and Hypoxic Respiratory Failure in Infants With Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia

OBJECTIVE: We designed and conducted a randomized, double-masked, controlled multicenter study to determine whether inhaled nitric oxide (INO) in term and near-term infants with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) would reduce the occurrence of death and/or the initiation of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Infants of 34 weeks gestation or more, <14 days of age with CDH, without known structural heart disease, requiring assisted ventilation for hypoxemic respiratory failure with two oxygenation indices (OIs) of 25 or more at least 15 minutes apart, were eligible for this trial. Infants were centrally randomized and then received masked treatment with 20 ppm NO or 100% oxygen as control. Infants with less than a full response to 20 ppm NO (increase in PaO2 > 20 Torr) after 30 minutes were evaluated at 80 ppm NO/control …