Early Hum Dev. 2025 May 27;207:106302. doi: 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2025.106302. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: This study aims to compare growth patterns among preterm infants with different patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) outcomes. Specifically, it examines infants who successfully closed their PDA following early medical therapy, those who failed to achieve closure and low-risk infants who did not meet the threshold for medical treatment of their PDA.
STUDY DESIGN: This was a retrospective observational cohort study conducted in a level III neonatal intensive care unit. Preterm infants born <29 weeks gestation were treated with medical therapy if they were deemed high risk as per the EL-Khuffash PDA Severity Score. Anthropometric measurements at birth, day 14 and 36 weeks corrected gestational age (CGA) were compared between low-risk (untreated), high-risk treatment-failure and high-risk treatment-success infants.
RESULTS: 74 low-risk, 52 high-risk treatment-failure and 58 high-risk treatment-success infants were identified. By 36 weeks CGA, there were no differences in weight between groups. However, high-risk treatment-failure infants showed a sustained decline in occipitofrontal circumference (OFC) metrics, while high-risk treatment-success infants demonstrated stable trajectories from birth to 36 weeks CGA (OFC centile change -15 ± 28 vs 0 ± 47 and OFC z-score change -0.5 ± 0.9 vs 0 ± 1.6, respectively). Low-risk infants maintained higher OFC centiles and z-scores at 36 weeks CGA. Gestational age at birth significantly predicted OFC centile change (β = 0.34; p = 0.01) and successful PDA closure positively impacted OFC z-score trajectories (β = 0.2; p = 0.01).
CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that there may be an association between PDA closure and OFC z-score change in high-risk preterm infants.
PMID:40440799 | DOI:10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2025.106302
