NCT05464355

Biomarkers Associated With Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction

Feasibility Study of the Use of Biomarkers to Detect Perioperative Brain Injury: the Association Between Serum Neurofilament Light Chains, Tau Proteins, Continuous Intra-operative Electroencephalography, and the Development of Post Operative Cognitive Dysfunction After Surgery

• Status: Active Not Recruiting
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 45 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University of Oxford · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Loss of cognitive function after major surgery is a significant risk in older people. It can occur acutely in the days after surgery as delirium or in months to years later as a persistent reduction in brain function termed neurocognitive decline. Together these conditions are called post operative cognitive dysfunction (POCD). They can be acutely distressing for patients and are associated with other problems after surgery. The causes of post operative cognitive dysfunction are poorly understood. Studies have been limited by a lack of biomarkers to predict which patients are at high risk of developing POCD. Research suggests silent strokes occurring during surgery and different sensitivities to anaesthetic medicines are associated with POCD. The project consists of a feasibility study to investigate markers that might predict people over 65 years old getting POCD. The first biomarker is a non-invasive monitor of anaesthetics effects on brain function called electroencephalography (EEG): The investigators will identify which EEG patterns predict delirium within five days surgery. The second set of biomarkers are two blood tests of proteins that increase after strokes: these are neurofilament light chains and tau proteins. The investigators will establish if these can be used to predict having POCD up to one year after surgery and long term cognitive impairment up to 5 years after surgery.

Conditions

• Delirium
• Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction
• Cognitive Decline
• Cognitive Impairment

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
PROCEDURE	Intraoperative electroencephalography recording	Intraoperative electroencephalography measurements, a non-invasive routine monitoring device used during anaesthesia to measure the brain's electrical activity
PROCEDURE	Neurofilament light chain measurement	Measurement of the level of neurofilament light chain in a blood sample
PROCEDURE	Tau protein measurement	Measurement of the level of tau protein in a blood sample

Timeline

• Start date: 2023-01-05
• Primary completion: 2026-01-01
• Completion: 2030-01-01
• First posted: 2022-07-19
• Last updated: 2025-06-22

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United Kingdom