Treatment of patent ductus arteriosus in very low birth weight preterm infants

Abstract

Objective To investigate the treatment of symptomatic patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in very low birth weight preterm infants. Methods From January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2010, 78 very low birth weight preterm infants (birth weight＜1500 g) were diagnosed as symptomatic PDA. Among which, 42 cases administered orally with indomethacin (0.2 mg/kg, every 12 hrs for three times) were taken as treatment group, while five cases in this group who failed to indomethacin treatment were interrupted with video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. And 36 cases who did not receive treatment for ductus arteriosus were taken as control group. The clinical outcomes, complications and prognosis of these patients were observed. Results There were no significant differences between the gentle percentage, gestational age, diameter of ductus arteriosus, rate of complicated with heart failure, sepsis, neonatal respiratory distress syndrome and intraventricular hemorrhage of two groups (P>0.05, respectively). The ductus arteriosus closed in 33 patients of treatment group (78.6%) and in nine patients of control group (25.0%)(χ2=22.39,P=0.000). There were no significant differences in serum creatinine level and platelet count between before and after the treatment in treatment group(P>0.05). Compared with control group, the treatment group had lower incidence of intraventricular hemorrhage (z=1.167, P=0.030), shorter duration of oxygen therapy [(8.0±5.5) d vs (13.3±9.3) d, t=2.225, P=0.032] and shorter hospital stay [(39.0±7.7) d vs (43.6±10.6) d, t=2.229, P=0.029]; while the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia and necrotizing enterocolitis were similar (P>0.05). The five cases of PDA who received video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery were successfully interrupted with no residual shunt left, while three of them had lung infections and one had pleural effusion, but no pneumothorax and infant death associated with surgery occurred. Conclusions Symptomatic PDA of very low birth weight preterm infants should be treated actively. Oral indomethacin was an effective and safe method to cure the PDA in these infants. Surgical ligation under video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery after failure of indomethacin treatment might be a good option. Key words: Infant, premature; Infant, very low birth weight; Ductus arteriosus, patent; Indomethacin; Thoracoscopy