Treatment of patent ductus arteriosus with low-dose indomethacin in very low birth weight neonates with impairment of renal function: report of three cases.

This paper reports three cases of very low-birth-weight preterm infants with impairment in renal function and occurring simultaneously with patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). The PDA was treated successfully with low-dose indomethacin without adverse effects. Only one patient had recurrence of the PDA, and the PDA was closed again in this case without problems using the same regimen. One of the other two cases died of necrotizing enterocolitis one month later. The hospital course of the remaining case was uneventful thereafter. It is suggested that low-dose indomethacin can be applied safely in a situation that is conventionally regarded to be a contraindication to the use of indomethacin such as impairment in renal function.