Echocardiographic Monitoring Of Cardiac Parameters To Predict Bronchial Dysplasia In Very Premature Infants

Echocardiography was used to measure the cardiac parameters in high-risk premature infants prone to bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). These measurements were used to determine the correlation between the parameters and BPD and whether they could be used to predict the parameters associated with cardiac health of BPD in very premature infants at a very early stage. Seventy-four very premature infants (gestational age <32 weeks) were recruited in this retrospective, single-center, observational studies. All infants were examined using echocardiography within a week after birth, and the cardiac chamber parameters were recorded. Of these, 14 infants with BPD were re-examined at 4 weeks after birth. Statistical analysis and comparison of the data of these 14 infants indicated that 1-week after birth, the inner diameters of PA/AS/AO/LA/ROVT/LVPW/LV were significantly smaller (P < 0.05), and that of AS/AO/LA/LV were highly significantly smaller (P < 0.001) in the BPD group compared with the non-BPD group. Comparing the cardiac parameters between 1 and 4 weeks after birth in infants with BPD showed a significant difference in the diameter of PA/AS/AO/ROVT/IVS/LVPW/LV, suggesting that the ventricular cavity developed more efficiently during growth.