Development of tissue Doppler-derived predictors of hemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus and the ability to incorporate it in targeted neonatal echocardiography protocol.

BACKGROUND

Hemodynamically significant (HS) patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a significant cause of mortality in preterm neonates. Early detection of HS PDA and pre-symptomatic closure may help in avoiding complications. For this to happen, easily performed predictors must be available; the aim of this paper is to test the reliability and repeatability of tissue Doppler-derived parameters for prediction of HS PDA.

METHODS

Preterm neonates <32 weeks were screened with echocardiography at Day 3 of life; 80 neonates with PDA were classified into HS group and hemodynamically insignificant (HIS) group based on benchmark parameter namely left ventricular outflow to superior vena caval flow ratio (LVO/SVC), and a ratio ≥4 was considered predictive of HS PDA. Tissue Doppler-derived left ventricular myocardial systolic and diastolic velocities were also performed.

RESULTS

In total, 105 neonates (55 among HS and 60 among HIS groups) were included in the study. Septal systolic velocity (S') proved of high sensitivity (100%) in the prediction of HS PDA; nevertheless, it proved to be more repeatable than the initially discriminating parameter (LVO/SVC) with a Kappa of 0.92.

CONCLUSION

This study concludes that septal S' can be reliably used even by neonatologists for pre-symptomatic detection of HS PDA. This may also indicate the need of adding tissue Doppler parameters to the standard protocol of targeted neonatal echocardiography.