Perfusion index in newborn infants: a noninvasive tool for neonatal monitoring.
OBJECTIVE
To review the utility of perfusion index (PI) in the evaluation of neonatal clinical conditions. Twenty-five manuscripts were reviewed. PI provides information about haemodynamic stability, illness severity, early neonatal respiratory outcome, low superior vena cava flow and subclinical chorioamnionitis.


CONCLUSIONS
PI is a valuable tool to assess the newborn's health condition and could become a standardised measure in clinical evaluation. Different study designs are necessary to provide further validation to this method.
Research Intern at the Orthopaedic Department, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Carolina Z
CZ
Piasek
Frank
F
Van Bel
Augusto
A
Sola
D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007232:Infant, Newborn, Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D010092:Oximetry; D011674:Pulse / Q000379:methods*
Cardiovascular function; Haemodynamics; Illness severity; Newborns; Perfusion index