Children’s heart and prematurity: a current view of the problem

Abstract

Improved survival of children born with low, extremely low and very low body weight in modern conditions due to increased nursing capabilities, optimization of treatment and increased efficiency of resuscitation measures has led to the need for greater understanding of the importance of assessing the cardiovascular system’s state beyond the neonatal period. With approximately 10% of infants worldwide being born preterm, there is an increasing need for further research into optimal regimens, lifestyle and clinical interventions that can benefit and modify cardiovascular morphology and function in this growing population. Modern theoretical postulates on the physiology and pathophysiology of the child’s heart include ideas about the key process of cardiac biomechanics — diastole, during which the earliest disturbances, that precede the formation of systolic dysfunction, occur. Assessment of the pumping properties of the left ventricle in systole and diastole is a fundamental methodological technique for an in-depth understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms of cardiovascular system’s emerging diseases, their early diagnosis and assessment of the complex therapy’s effectiveness. However, despite the widespread use of standard echocardiography to assess systolic and diastolic function, its traditional parameters have limitations in terms of diagnostic accuracy and effectiveness in practice. Expanding knowledge about new pathogenetic mechanisms of the cardiac dysfunction formation in conditions of prematurity at the current stage of cardiology development using the “trace spot” technology (two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography) will be very useful for scientists studying the mechanics formation of the child’s heart after premature birth, and for doctors of various specialties in early diagnosis of heart diseases.