All issues > Volume 31(6); 1988

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 1988;31(6):747-753. Published online June 30, 1988.

Doppler Echocardiographic Determination of the Time of Ductal Closure in Normal Newborn Infants.

Dong Joo Na¹, Hyung Kook Kim¹, Jong Wan Kim¹, Sang Min seong¹, Kyong Su Lee¹, In Soo Park²

¹Department of Pediatrics, Catholic University Medical College, Seoul, Korea
²Department of Internal Medicine, Catholic University Medical College, Seoul, Korea

Received: August 27, 1987;  Accepted: February 1, 1988.

Abstract

Pulsed Doppler echocardiography, a sensitive and specific non-invasive method enabled the various congenital and acquired heart diseases to be detected sine 1970，s For determining the time of functional closure of ductus arteriosus, 30 normal newborn infants were examined by pulsed wave Doppler (PWD) from March 1 to April 30, 1987, in Holy Family Hospital, Catholic Medical Center. A PDA was diagnosed when abnormal diastolic ductal flow into MPA could be recorded using PWD. All newborn infants were initially examined within 6 hours of age and following examinations were performed twice daily thereafter until PDA evidence could be no longer detected. The M-mode echocardiographic measurements were taken at the initial and final examination to evaluate the ductal shunts. In 93.3% (28/30) of newborn infants, PDA was detected on the initial examination. Of these cases, PDA was no longer to be detected in 73.3% by 24 hours of age, in 86.6% by 48 hours, in 93.3% by 72 hours and in all by 96 hours of age. There were no M-mode echocardiographic evidences for a significant left to right shunt of PDA in any cases. There was no clear association between the time of functional closure of PDA and birth weight, sex difference, delivery type. These data indicate that ductal patency is common in the normal newborn infants, and that the functional closure of PDA may not occur until later than previously belived.

Keywords :Patent ductus arteriosus, Pulsed wave Doppler, Main pulmonary artery, Ductus arteriosus