New England Journal of Medicine publishes results of vitamin D study

The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center participated in a major study called VIOLET conducted by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute’s Prevention and Early Treatment of Acute Lung Injury Network. The results of the study were recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine. Congratulations to these Ohio State College of Medicine faculty members who led the Ohio State team in the study: Thomas Terndrup, MD, professor of Emergency Medicine; Matthew Exline, MD, associate professor of Internal Medicine; and Joshua Englert, MD, assistant professor of Internal Medicine.

The focus of the VIOLET study was to determine whether high doses of vitamin D could reduce mortality in critically ill patients with vitamin D deficiencies and who were at risk for acute respiratory distress syndrome. The study concluded that early administration of high-dose vitamin D did not reduce mortality or impact other, nonfatal outcomes among critically ill, vitamin D–deficient patients.

“We did expect that the early provision of vitamin D would decrease mortality, so we were disappointed in the results,” says study team member Jeffrey Caterino, MD, professor of Emergency Medicine. “However, further work is going on to determine if patients with severe vitamin D deficiency might benefit.”

Study team leaders deemed the study a success for Ohio State due to close collaboration between emergency medicine and pulmonary critical care medicine. Critical care research staff included Jennifer Frey, Emily Robart, Sarah Karow, Angela Zachman and Joshua Garmatter.

Ohio State Wexner Medical Center was one of 44 academic medical centers to participate in the study, which began in April 2017 and involved more than 200 researchers.