Histologic observation of the ductus arteriosus in premature infants with intrauterine growth retardation.

The ductus arteriosus of 19 premature infants with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) (study group) was compared histologically with that of 22 infants without IUGR (control group). The two groups exhibited no significant differences in gestational age, age at death, and frequency of disseminated intravascular coagulation. Maternal complications, that is, pregnancy-induced hypertension, cesarean section, and low umbilical artery oxygen tension values, were seen more frequently (p < 0.01) in the study group than in the control group. The histologic changes of ductus arteriosus, such as fragmentation, coagulation necrosis of the intimal elastic lamina, hemorrhage with necrosis, and loosening of elastic fibers and muscles in the tunica media, were seen more frequently in the study group. These findings are suggestive of both the maturation process and the prenatal hypoxic response of premature IUGR fetuses with chronic hypoxia. These changes may have produced subsequent patent ductus arteriosus, which in turn may have induced pulmonary hemorrhage.