Natural evolution of ductus arteriosus with noninterventional conservative management in extremely preterm infants born at 23-28 weeks of gestation

PLoS One. 2019 Feb 13;14(2):e0212256. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0212256. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the natural course of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) with noninterventional conservative management and whether the presence and/or prolonged duration of hemodynamically significant (HS) PDA increased the risk of mortality and morbidities in extremely preterm (EPT) infants. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of EPT infants born at 23-28 weeks of gestation (n = 195) from January 2011 to June 2014, when PDA was managed with noninterventional conservative treatment. We stratified infants into three subgroups of 23-24, 25-26, and 27-28 weeks and analyzed the prevalence and natural evolution of HS PDA, defined as ventilator dependency and PDA size ≥2 mm. Multivariate regression analyses determined if the presence and/or prolonged duration of HS PDA increased the risk for mortality and/or morbidities. The overall incidence of HS PDA was 57% (111/195) at the end of the first postnatal week. In subgroup analyses, infants with 23-24 weeks of gestation had the highest incidence (93%, 50/54), with 64% (47/74) for 25-26 weeks and 21% (14/67) for 27-28 weeks. Six (5%) of 111 infants with HS PDA were discharged without ductus closure, 4 had spontaneous PDA closure on follow up, and device closure was performed for 2 infants. In the multivariate analyses, the presence or prolonged duration (per week) of HS PDA was not associated with the risk of mortality and/or morbidities. Spontaneous closure of HS PDA was mostly achieved, even in EPT infants, with a noninterventional conservative approach. In conclusion, our data showed the incidence and natural course of HS PDA in EPT infants and suggested that the presence or prolonged duration of HS PDA might not increase the rate of mortality or morbidities.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Conservative Treatment
  • Ductus Arteriosus / physiopathology*
  • Ductus Arteriosus, Patent* / mortality
  • Ductus Arteriosus, Patent* / physiopathology
  • Ductus Arteriosus, Patent* / therapy
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Gestational Age
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Infant Mortality*
  • Infant, Extremely Premature*
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Male
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Risk Factors

Grants and funding

This study was supported by grants from the 20 by 20 Project (Best #3, GFO1150091) from Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.