title: Patent ductus arteriosus ligation in premature infants in the United States.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a condition that commonly affects premature and low birth weight (BW) infants at times necessitating surgical intervention. We examined outcomes after surgical ligation (SL).
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed the Kids' Inpatient Database for premature infants diagnosed with PDA, admitted at <8 d of age. Patient demographics, disposition, morbidity, and mortality were analyzed. All cases were weighted appropriately to project nationally representative estimates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 63,208 patients were identified with diagnosis of PDA. Of these, 6766 (10.7%) underwent SL. Lower gestational age (GA) and BW patients had higher incidence of PDA and rates of SL. Overall survival was 90.8% for the cohort. Survival for the SL group was 88.0% and 91.2% for the non-SL group; however, infants undergoing SL had higher survival rates up to 28 wk and 1250 g for GA and BW, respectively. GA did not affect post-SL survival adversely. Rather, lower BW was associated with extremely high mortality rates. Black infants and boys had lower survival compared with other races and girls, respectively. Larger hospitals had higher survival rates, but hospital location, teaching status, and type did not affect survival. Payer status and income quartile did not affect survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PDA and SL are more common in lower BW and GA groups. Higher survival rates are found for infants with SL versus non-SL in the lowest BW and GA groups. Morbidity and mortality are not affected by SL timing. BW, rather than GA, determines survival of infants undergoing SL.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tashiro
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida.
authors.forename: Juan E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Sola
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida.
authors.forename: Anthony R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Hogan
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida.
authors.forename: Holly L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Neville
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida. Electronic address: EPerez3@med.miami.edu.
authors.forename: Eduardo A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Perez
mesh_terms: D001724:Birth Weight; D004374:Ductus Arteriosus, Patent / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007235:Infant, Premature, Diseases / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery*; D008026:Ligation; D008297:Male; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Ductus arteriosus; Infant; Ligation; Patent; Premature