Echocardiographic diagnosis: pitfalls in the premature infant with a large patent ductus arteriosus.
Thirty-one infants with clinical and radiographic evidence of a large left-to-right shunt across a patent ductus arteriosus underwent echocardiographic study to determine the magnitude of shunting. Seven patients were found to have a normal-left atrial dimensions and a normal left atrial/aortic root dimension at the time when physical and roentgenographic findings of a large PDA were most pronounced. In contrast, left ventricular end diastolic dimensions were excessive in these infants. After ductal closure (four, surgery; two, indomethacin, one, spontaneous) the left ventricular end diastolic dimension fell to the normal range. Optimal echocardiographic accuracy in infants with PDA should combine analysis of both atrial and ventricular dimensions; the former, used alone, may be misleading.
D004374:Ductus Arteriosus, Patent / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000601:surgery; D004452:Echocardiography; D006801:Humans; D007213:Indomethacin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature
D007213:Indomethacin