Primary Outcome Measures:
- Time to reversal of Parenteral Nutrition Associated Cholestasis [ Time Frame: 24 weeks, death, transplant, or discontinuation of Parenteral Nutrition (whichever is longer) ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
serial liver function tests
- safety [ Time Frame: 24 weeks, death, transplant, or discontinuation of Parenteral Nutrition (whichever is longer) ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
serial platelet counts, essential fatty acid profile, and coagulation parameters
- growth [ Time Frame: 24 weeks, death, transplant, or discontinuation of Parenteral Nutrition (whichever is longer) ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
serial weight, length, and head circumference measurements
Secondary Outcome Measures:
- death [ Time Frame: 24 weeks, death, transplant, or discontinuation of Parenteral Nutrition (whichever is longer) ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
- transplant [ Time Frame: 24 weeks, death, transplant, or discontinuation of Parenteral Nutrition (whichever is longer) ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
- time to full enteral feeds [ Time Frame: 24 weeks, death, transplant, or discontinuation of Parenteral Nutrition (whichever is longer) ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
Intervention Details:
Drug: Omegaven
0.5 gm/kg/d intravenous every day for 2 days, then 1 gm/kg/d intravenous everyday for no longer than 24 weeks
Other Name: Omegaven
Infants dependent on parenteral nutrition for greater than 1 year who develop Parenteral Nutrition Associated Cholestasis will universally face mortality unless they receive a timely liver and/or small bowel transplant. Although transplant survival has improved in recent years, survival is not guaranteed, and transplant care remains costly. Alternative nutritional and pharmacological strategies are imperative to improve the clinical outcomes of infants with Intestinal Failure and Parenteral Nutrition Associated Cholestasis. In both animal and human studies, intravenous fish oil, a lipid emulsion rich in omega-3 fatty acids and lacking phytosterols, has been shown to ameliorate Parenteral Nutrition Associated Cholestasis and improve morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this pilot study is to investigate if Omegaven, a commercially available intravenous fish oil, at 1 gm/kg/d, will safely reverse liver disease in 20 subjects with Parenteral Nutrition Associated Cholestasis. Subjects can initially receive a maximum of 6 months (24 weeks) of intravenous fish oil. If the subject re-develops liver disease and still satisfies inclusion/exclusion criteria, the intervention can be restarted for an additional 6 months (24 weeks). The intervention can be restarted more than once as long as inclusion/exclusion criteria are satisfied. Study subjects will be compared to a historical cohort of children with Short Bowel Syndrome and Parenteral Nutrition Associated Cholestasis who have been receiving standard intravenous soybean oil for > 60 days.