Resistive indices of cerebral arteries in very preterm infants: values throughout stay in the neonatal intensive care unit and impact of patent ductus arteriosus.
BACKGROUND
Little is known about cerebral artery resistive index values in infants born extremely preterm.


OBJECTIVE
To report resistive index values in various cerebral arteries in a prospective cohort of preterm infants born at <29 weeks' gestation, and to compare resistive index in these arteries and assess the relationship between resistive index and hemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus.


METHODS
Using Doppler imaging, we obtained resistive index values of internal carotid arteries, basilar artery, anterior cerebral artery, and pial and striatal arteries in the first 3 days of age and weekly thereafter until discharge or death. We analyzed paired observations using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, between-group comparisons with the Mann-Whitney test.


RESULTS
We performed 771 examinations in 235 infants. Resistive indices differed among arteries: vessels with larger diameters showed significantly higher resistive indices. Resistive index in infants without patent ductus arteriosus was lower than that in infants with hemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus (median in anterior cerebral artery: 0.75 and 0.82, respectively; P<0.001), though this was not statistically significant in all arteries. There was no difference in pre- and post-ligation resistive indices in infants who underwent patent ductus arteriosus ligation.


CONCLUSIONS
For accurate follow-up and comparison of cerebral artery resistive index, the same artery should be examined on each occasion.
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Wytemaweg 80, 3015 CN, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Ginette M
GM
Ecury-Goossen
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Wytemaweg 80, 3015 CN, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Marlou M A
MM
Raets
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel (UZ Brussel), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium.
Fleur A
FA
Camfferman
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.|Department of Imaging Physics, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands.
Rik H J
RH
Vos
Department of Biostatistics, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Joost
J
van Rosmalen
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Wytemaweg 80, 3015 CN, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Irwin K M
IK
Reiss
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Wytemaweg 80, 3015 CN, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.|Department of Pediatrics, Koningin Paola Children's Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium.
Paul
P
Govaert
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Wytemaweg 80, 3015 CN, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. j.dudink@erasmusmc.nl.|Department of Radiology, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. j.dudink@erasmusmc.nl.
Jeroen
J
Dudink
D002536:Cerebral Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004374:Ductus Arteriosus, Patent / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018616:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Duplex; D014655:Vascular Resistance / Q000502:physiology*
Duplex Doppler sonography; Neonate; Patent ductus arteriosus; Preterm; Resistance index; Resistive index; Ultrasound