Patent Ductus Arteriosus: A Commentary

Abstract

In 1938, Dr. Robert E. Gross first successfully ligated a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in a 7-year-old child. This operation played a major role in the development of cardiac surgery, and has benefited an inestimable number of children. Recently, there has been renewed interest in PDA ligation in the treatment of premature infants with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). Whether early operative intervention, prior to the onset of congestive heart failure, decreases the early mortality and morbidity of RDS, whether it aids in preventing the late crippling sequelae of this syndrome, i.e., bronchopulmonary dysplasia, or whether both results are true remains to be demonstrated. The risk of surgical closure of the PDA in premature neonates with RDS is small, and surgical closure of the PDA reduces the need for prolonged tracheal intubation considerably and the time of hospital stay.