Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41661252›Full record

Trial reportHealth technology assessment (Winchester, England)2026

Azithromycin therapy for prevention of chronic lung disease of prematurity (AZTEC): a randomised placebo-controlled trial.

John Lowe, David Gillespie, Ali Aboklaish, Tin Man Mandy Lau, Claudia Consoli, Malavika Babu, Mark Goddard, Kerenza Hood, Nigel Klein, Emma Thomas-Jones and 8 more

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Health technology assessment (Winchester, England), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

18 authors.

John LoweCentre for Trials Research, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-4772-1879
David GillespieCentre for Trials Research, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-6934-2928
Ali AboklaishDepartment of Child Health, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-6426-8757
Tin Man Mandy LauCentre for Trials Research, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-5894-570X
Claudia ConsoliCentral Biotechnology Services, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.ORCID 0009-0003-0868-9973
Malavika BabuCentre for Trials Research, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-3479-529X
Mark GoddardCentre for Trials Research, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.ORCID 0009-0005-0908-0929
Kerenza HoodCentre for Trials Research, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-5268-8631
Nigel KleinInstitute of Child Health, University College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-3925-9258
Emma Thomas-JonesCentre for Trials Research, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-7716-2786
Sinead Ahearn-FordTranslational and Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-5979-9636
Greg YoungTranslational and Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-5342-1421
Christopher StewartTranslational and Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-6033-338X
Mark TurnerWomen and Children's Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-5299-8656
Marie HubbardNeonatal Medicine, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Leicester, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-0388-4983
Julian MarchesiDepartment of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Imperial College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-7994-5239
Janet BerringtonTranslational and Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-6185-2843
Sailesh KotechaDepartment of Child Health, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-3535-7627

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Systematic reviews have reported conflicting evidence to confirm if macrolides reduce rates of chronic lung disease of prematurity in at-risk preterm-born infants, including in those colonised with pulmonary Methods: Infants recruited from 30 neonatal units (median gestational age 27.0 weeks, interquartile range 25.3-28.6) requiring respiratory support within 72 hours of birth were randomised to intravenous azithromycin 20 mg/kg/day for 3 days followed by 10 mg/kg for 7 days or to placebo. Primary outcome was survival without development of physiologically defined moderate/severe chronic lung disease of prematurity at 36 weeks' postmenstrual age. A total of 796 infants were required to detect 12% improvement in survival without development of moderate or severe chronic lung disease of prematurity, including 10% dropout, with two-sided Findings: After three withdrawals, 796 randomised infants were included in the final analyses. Survivors without physiologically defined moderate/severe chronic lung disease of prematurity were: 166/394 (42.1%) and 179/402 (44.5%) in the intervention and placebo groups, respectively (adjusted odds ratio 0.84; 95% confidence interval 0.55 to 1.29; Interpretation: Prophylactic use of azithromycin did not improve survival without development of physiologically defined chronic lung disease of prematurity regardless of Future work: Follow-up at ages 1 and 2 years will assess the medium-term effects. Investigating whether treatment modulated proinflammatory cytokine concentrations, including whether this was more prevalent in the Limitations: Limitations include the (limited) missed oxygen reduction tests, inadequate collection of respiratory support data and lower-than-anticipated baseline sampling. Funding: This synopsis presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme as award number 16/111/106.

Indexed as

Anti-Bacterial AgentsAzithromycinInfant, Premature, DiseasesLung DiseasesChronic DiseaseDouble-Blind MethodFemaleHumansInfant, NewbornInfant, PrematureMaleUreaplasmaAnti-Bacterial AgentsAzithromycinAZITHROMYCINCHRONIC LUNG DISEASE OF PREMATURITYNEONATEUREAPLASMA

Identifiers

PMID41661252
PMCPMC12914749

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.