[Usefulness of pulsed doppler echocardiography in the diagnosis and medical therapy of patent ductus arteriosus in the newborn with respiratory distress].
In preterm infants patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) may worsen the clinical course of Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS). Indomethacin is usually effective in producing duct closure in the first days of life, but clinical diagnosis is often difficult to perform in these patients. In recent years Pulsed Doppler Cross-Sectional Echocardiography (PD-CSE) has made it possible to identify the duct and to assess noninvasively the characteristics of blood flow within it. The aim of this study was to verify the utility of PD-CSE in the early diagnosis of PDA and to provide the basis for a more effective drug therapy. Among 51 patients with RDS, a significant PDA was evidenced in 20 with PD-CSE and in only 8/20 with physical and E-TM examination (p less than 0.01). Indomethacin administration produced duct closure in 19/20 patients (95%). In this study PD-CSE has been more sensitive than the other noninvasive procedures in the diagnosis of PDA; moreover, the success with drug therapy demonstrates the utility of this procedure in providing the basis of a more effective treatment of the duct.
Unità Operativa di Cardiologia, Ospedale A. Meyer, Firenze.
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L
De Simone
F
F
Cecchi
S
S
Favilli
I
I
Pollini
A
A
Taiti
P
P
Fiorini
A
A
Manetti
D004374:Ductus Arteriosus, Patent / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000628:therapy*; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D012127:Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn / Q000150:complications*
Utilità dell'ecocardiografia doppler pulsato nella diagnosi e terapia medica del dotto arterioso pervio del neonato con distress respiratorio.