Tag Archives: caffeine

Caffeine is good for the preterm brain; might more caffeine be even better?

Posted on 24 September 2025 by Keith Barrington

One of the pivotal RCTs in neonatology was the CAP study (Schmidt B, et al. Long-term effects of caffeine therapy for apnea of prematurity. N Engl J Med. 2007;357(19):1893–902). We performed that study because there was no data on the … Continue reading →

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Is it a duck? Is it a mole? Platipus and Trial Design Innovations.

Posted on 19 February 2025 by Keith Barrington

When the platypus was first captured, killed, skinned and the pelt sent to a zoologist in London, George Shaw in 1799, he thought he was being scammed. He tried to find the stitches that had been used to cobble together … Continue reading →

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Badly performed, badly presented, unethical published research; what to do?

Posted on 29 October 2024 by Keith Barrington

Since at least 2013 the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki has mandated registration of clinical trials prior to enrolment of the first subject. Since 2005 the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors has required trial registration as a condition … Continue reading →

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What dose of caffeine to use?

Posted on 9 September 2022 by Keith Barrington

The dose of caffeine that we used for the CAP trial was the dose that was being widely used at the time. It seemed to be a safe dose, that did not require serum concentration surveillance, but was not based … Continue reading →

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The CAP babies are now 11

Posted on 25 April 2017 by Keith Barrington

I was privileged to be part of the CAP trial group, a pivotal neonatal trial that showed improved Bayley scores and improved motor function at 18 to 21 months corrected age, among infants randomized before 10 days of age, with … Continue reading →

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Caffeine protects the lungs

Posted on 7 June 2016 by Keith Barrington

From the CAP trial we know that caffeine administration leads to less bronchopulmonary dysplasia. The question is how? The mechanism could help to design other studies, or help in a decision about clinical use where the question hasn’t been directly … Continue reading →

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