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Effects of Patent Ductus Arteriosus on Organ Blood Flow in Infants Born
Very Preterm: A Prospective Study with Serial Echocardiography
Kai-Hsiang Hsu, MD1,2,3, Jimmy Nguyen, MD4,5, Stephanie Dekom, MD5, Rangasamy Ramanathan, MD5,
and Shahab Noori, MD, MS CBTI1
Objective To characterize the effects of a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) on different organ blood flows in infants
born preterm.
Study design Infants born preterm at £30 weeks of gestational age had daily echocardiography and Doppler as-
sessments of middle cerebral artery, celiac artery, superior mesenteric (SMA), and renal arteries (RA) during the first
postnatal week. Abnormal organ blood flow was defined as either reverse or absent diastolic flow, abnormally low
mean or systolic velocities, or abnormally high pulsatility or resistance index.
Results Twenty-five infants born very preterm (gestational age 27.0 2.1 weeks) were enrolled. PDA presence at
time of measurement increased the risk of abnormal organ blood flows (39% vs 8%, P < .001). Ductal diameter and
left atrium-to-aortic root (LA/Ao) ratio correlated positively with resistance index (celiac artery, SMA, RA), and nega-
tively with mean velocity (ductal diameter: SMA, RA; LA/Ao ratio: RA). A PDA >2.0 mm, LA/Ao ratio >1.4, and their
combination were associated with 8.0 (95% CI 1.6–39.4)-, 6.7 (1.3–34.7)-, and 38.2 (3.2–455.5)-fold increase in risk
of abnormal organ blood flow index, respectively. Abnormal descending aorta flow was detected in only 2% of mea-
surements.
Conclusions Ductal size >2.0 mm and LA/Ao >1.4, especially in combination, are associated with a greater risk of
abnormal organ blood flows. We suggest that Doppler assessment of the renal and superior mesenteric arteries are
more likely to detect systemic hypoperfusion than the descending aorta. (J Pediatr 2019;-:1-6).
P
atent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is common in infants born very preterm and associated with morbidities such as intra-
ventricular hemorrhage, pulmonary hemorrhage, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, necrotizing enterocolitis, and renal
insufficiency.1 Although a PDA with a left-to-right shunt directly increases pulmonary circulation, its effect on organ
blood flows is less clear.2-4 Several studies have shown that PDA can have adverse effects on organ blood flows, including middle
cerebral artery (MCA),5,6 celiac artery (CA),7-9 superior mesenteric artery (SMA),8,10 and renal artery (RA).9,11,12 However,
there is a paucity of information on PDA and echocardiographic characteristics that lead to compromised blood flow to various
organ vascular beds.
Ductal diameter ³1.5 mm13,14 and left atrium to aortic root (LA/Ao) ratio ³1.3-1.513,15,16 are the most commonly used echo-
cardiographic criteria for hemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus (hsPDA). Both criteria for hsPDA are devel-
oped based on the degree of clinical symptoms,13 increased left ventricular output to systemic flow,15 or volume overload of
left heart.14,16 However, given the importance of adequate organ perfusion, defining hsPDA based on objective measure of or-
gan blood flows is also important.17 Our objective was to investigate the effects of PDA on various organ blood flows and define
the echocardiographic criteria for hsPDA based on abnormal organ blood flow indices during the first week of postnatal life
among infants born very preterm.
Methods
This prospective study was conducted in the neonatal intensive care unit at Los
Angeles County and University of Southern California Medical Center. Inborn
From the 1Fetal and Neonatal Institute, Division of
infants born preterm at £30 weeks of gestational age were eligible for the study. Neonatology, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles,
Department of Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine,
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA;
2
Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics,
Chang Gung Memorial Hospital Linkou Branch, Taoyuan,
CA Celiac artery MV Mean velocity Taiwan; 3Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Science,
Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan; 4Division of
DOL Day of life PDA Patent ductus arteriosus Neonatology, Cedar-Sinai Medical Center; and 5Division
EDV End-diastolic velocity PI Pulsatility index of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, LAC+USC
hsPDA Hemodynamically significant PSV Peak systolic velocity Medical Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of
Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
patent ductus arteriosus RA Renal artery
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
LA/Ao Left atrium-to-aortic root RI Resistance index
MCA Middle cerebral artery SMA Superior mesenteric artery 0022-3476/$ - see front matter. ª 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2019.08.057
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THE JOURNAL OF PEDIATRICS www.jpeds.com Volume - - 2019
Effects of Patent Ductus Arteriosus on Organ Blood Flow in Infants Born Very Preterm: A Prospective Study with Serial 3
Echocardiography
THE JOURNAL OF PEDIATRICS www.jpeds.com Volume -
Figure 1. The number and percentage of abnormal blood flow measurements among those with a PDA.
Furthermore, PDA diameter >2.0 mm and LA/Ao ratio >1.4 from a clinical to echocardiographic to various scoring sys-
emerged as the best predictors of abnormal organ blood flow tems.22 We defined hsPDA based on abnormalities of sys-
indices. Therefore, as far as systemic perfusion is concerned, temic organ blood flow. We found PDA diameter and LA/
these measures could be used to define the presence of a he- Ao ratio to be useful in predicting abnormal organ blood
modynamic significant PDA. flow indices. A PDA diameter >2.0 mm and LA/Ao ratio
Although previous studies were not as comprehensive and >1.4 were the best predictive cutoff values, with the com-
typically evaluated only 1 or 2 peripheral vascular beds, they bination of these 2 cutoffs being highly predictive of
reported an alteration or reduction in organ blood flow in the abnormal systemic organ blood flow indices (Figure 3).
presence of a PDA.5-12 We extended this observation to daily PDA diameter has long been recognized as a marker of
and simultaneous assessment of 4 different vascular beds. shunt magnitude.15 Given the fact that blood flow is
Furthermore, we defined a threshold for declaring an organ directly proportional to the fourth power of the vessel
blood flow as abnormal based on normative data and were diameter, it is not surprising that ductal diameter would
able to describe the pattern of abnormal blood flow for a spe- be an important determinant of systemic hypoperfusion.
cific organ over the first postnatal week (Figure 1). We found As for LA/Ao ratio, it was the first echocardiographic
the impact of PDA to be different on various vascular beds. index to be used to diagnose a significant PDA. The
Flows in the SMA and RA were commonly affected by PDA utility of this index is based on the premise that with a
and the MCA and CA were seldom affected. Given the significant left-to-right shunt through PDA, pulmonary
compensatory increase in stroke volume in the context of venous return increases, thereby enlarging LA dimension.
preductal supply of brain blood flow and preferential blood Indexing LA to a structure that is unaltered by the
supply to the brain as a function of cerebral autoregulation, increased preload (ie, aortic root), allows for
maintenance of MCA flow is not surprising. Similarly, generalizability of the index to various sizes of the
Shimada et al found preservation of blood flow in anterior neonatal population. It is important to note that high
cerebral artery but low flow indices in postductal vascular LA/Ao ratio also could be the result of congenital heart
beds in the presence of a significant PDA.11 As for the CA, disease such as hypoplastic aorta resulting in abnormal
the low resistance of the large vascular bed of the liver and caliber of the aorta root, and therefore congenital heart
spleen dampens the effect of diastolic flow runoff in this disease should be ruled out in such cases. Despite lack of
artery and as such, flow indices are less affected compared specificity to PDA and poor sensitivity in the presence of
with the SMA and RA.9 large PFO, LA/Ao ratio remains one of the most
Although there is no consensus on what constitutes a commonly reported echocardiographic measures. Our
hsPDA, its definition has evolved over the last few decades finding of predictive nature of LA/Ao ratio in identifying
4 Hsu et al
- 2019 ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Submitted for publication Apr 10, 2019; last revision received Aug 22, 2019;
accepted Aug 27, 2019.
Reprint requests: Shahab Noori, MD, MS CBTI, Fetal and Neonatal Institute,
Division of Neonatology, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Department of
Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, 4650
Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027. E-mail: snoori@chla.usc.edu
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Effects of Patent Ductus Arteriosus on Organ Blood Flow in Infants Born Very Preterm: A Prospective Study with Serial 5
Echocardiography
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6 Hsu et al
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Figure 2. Receiver operating characteristic curves for A, ductal diameter and B, LA/Ao ratio in relation to abnormal organ blood
flows.
Effects of Patent Ductus Arteriosus on Organ Blood Flow in Infants Born Very Preterm: A Prospective Study with Serial 6.e1
Echocardiography
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Table III. Flow velocities and indices for MCA, CA, Table V. Correlation between LA/Ao ratio and organ
SMA, and RA blood flows velocities and indices
Artery PSV, cm/s EDV, cm/s MV, cm/s PI RI Artery Beta 95% CI P value
MCA 36 11 83 16 7 1.31 0.68 0.95 0.40 MCA
CA 64 23 18 9 35 15 1.55 0.74 0.75 0.11 PSV 0.112 0.013-0.211 .027
SMA 43 13 13 6 17 8 2.33 1.06 0.85 0.12 MV 0.027 0.039 to 0.919 .423
RA 44 14 65 18 5 2.35 1.20 0.87 0.11 PI 0.557 0.193 to 1.308 .146
RI 0.064 0.272 to 0.400 .707
CA
PSV 0.406 0.124 to 0.215 .599
MV 0.012 0.120 to 0.096 .828
PI 0.942 0.188-1.696 .014
RI 0.147 0.047-0.248 .004
SMA
PSV 0.054 0.074 to 0.182 .408
MV 0.002 0.064 to 0.688 .947
PI 1.358 0.264-2.452 .015
RI 0.172 0.053-0.292 .005
RA
PSV 0.075 0.056 to 0.206 .263
MV 0.065 0.110 to 0.020 .004
PI 2.214 1.049-3.378 <.001
RI 0.169 0.066-0.271 .001
6.e2 Hsu et al