Abstract
The aetiology of hypotension/poor tissue perfusion in the VLBW infant is unclear. This study assessed cardiac function in the first few hours after birth using Echocardiography.
60 VLBW infants were studied. 26 infants were shocked and received treatment in the first 24 hours. 34 required no treatment and constituted a control group. The left ventricular shortening fraction (SF%), an index of cardiac function, was recorded and correlated with a number of clinical factors.
Median SF% was 31% in the shocked infants vs 38% in the controls (p=0.001). Taking SF% < =30% as abnormal, 50% (13/26) of shocked infants had an SF% <-30% whereas only 3% (1/34) of controls had a SF% < =30%, p=0.0001. The median Apgar at 1 minute and 5 minutes were significantly lower in the shocked vs control infants. (p<0.001 and p<0.01 respectively).
Myocardial dysfunction appeared to be a feature in those VLBW infants who required treatment for shock. This is likely to have important implications for the most appropriate treatment of such infants.
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Gill, B., Weindling, M. CARDIAC FUNCTION IN THE SHOCKED VERY LOW BIRTHWEIGHT INFANT. Pediatr Res 32, 614 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199211000-00055
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199211000-00055