Abstract
The cerebral circulation of 58 normal neonates(23 term infants and 35 preterm) was investigated between 24 and 72 hours of life with a 5 MHz transducer(Duplex Scanner). Blood flow velocity (V), area under the velocity curve (AUVC), resistance index (RI), rise and fall slopes were obtained in the anterior cerebral artery. An increase of V (r=0.57) and AUVC (r=0.58) was observed throughout gestation. To a lesser extent, V (r=0.47) and AUVC (r=0.39) increased with increasing systolic blood pressure. Between 26 and 40 weeks, V varies from 16.9 to 28.8 cm/sec and AUVC from 37 to 63 KHz x min. This data suggest maturational changes. By contrast, RI, rise and fall slopes were found to be not gestation dependent. This could imply that capillaries of the germinal layer in the preterm infant with their architectural and anatomical immaturity would be exposed to the same blood flow velocity acceleration, expressed by the rise slope, as compared to therm infant. Further studies are needed to draw inferences regarding Doppler patterns in relation to metabolic and circulatory disturbances -hypoxaemia, hypercapnia, acidosis, hypotension - and cerebral damage.
This work was supported by Swiss National Science foundation no 3.870.0.86
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Fawer, C., Meister, J., Rossier, M. et al. 44 DOPPLER PARAMETERS AND GESTATIONAL AGE. Pediatr Res 24, 268 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198808000-00070
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198808000-00070