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Fluid regimens and the risk of patent ductus arteriosus in extremely low birth weight infants

Journal of Perinatology volume 28, page 653 (2008)Cite this article

We appreciate Dr McAdams' thoughtful comments regarding our manuscript.1 As noted, the 10% rate of symptomatic patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in our population is lower than the rate of 55 to 70% reported by Hermes-DeSantis and Clyman2 or the rate in infants who receive prophylactic indomethacin versus controls reported by Schmidt et al.3 (24 versus 50%). This may in part be explained by the differences in our study population. While Hermes-DeSantis and Clyman2 and Schmidt et al.3 each report on the rates of symptomatic PDA in infants born <1000 g or <28 weeks gestation, our population included more mature infants up to 1250 g and 32 weeks gestation. These higher gestation infants have lower rates of all neonatal morbidities including PDA. Two previous studies of infants born <1500 g report lower rates of symptomatic PDA (16 to 19%).4, 5

Our population is unique, in that all infants received prophylactic indomethacin, and therefore, these results may not be generalizable to infants who do not receive indomethacin prophylaxis.

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References

  1. Stephens BE, Gargos RA, Walden RV, Mance M, Nye J, McKinley L et al. Fluid regimens in the first week of life may increase risk of patent ductus arteriosus in extremely low birth weight infants. J Perinatol 2008; 28 (2): 123–128.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Women and Infants Hospital, Providence, RI, USA

    B E Stephens & B R Vohr

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  1. B E Stephens
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  2. B R Vohr
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Stephens, B., Vohr, B. Fluid regimens and the risk of patent ductus arteriosus in extremely low birth weight infants. J Perinatol 28, 653 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2008.87

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