Elsevier

The Journal of Pediatrics

Volume 111, Issue 5, November 1987, Pages 755-760
The Journal of Pediatrics

Two-dimensional Doppler echocardiographic assessment of closure of the ductus arteriosus in normal newborn infants

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3476(87)80263-9Get rights and content

To elucidate the mechanism involved in closure of the ductus arteriosus (DA), 50 normal full-term infants were examined with two-dimensional and pulsed Doppler echocardiography. The examinations were performed initially within 1 hour after delivery and serially for 3 days. The two-dimensionally derived long-axis plane of the DA disclosed a characteristic localized protrusion into its lumen in 30% of the subjects within 1 hour, in 80% by 4 hours, in 96% by 8 hours, and in all by 24 hours after birth. In 10 infants in whom the intraluminal protrusion did not appear within 4 hours after birth, none had any recognizable changes in the inner diameter or length of the DA during this initial period. The development of the intraluminal protrusion resulted in localized narrowing of the ductal lumen. Doppler echocardiography revealed a high-velocity jet within and downstream from the narrowed portion of the DA. Thereafter, ductal narrowing progressed along the entire length. The intraluminal protrusion may be early evidence of ductal changes leading to eventual functional and anatomic closure.

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Supported by a grant from the Kitasato University Foundation and a grant for maternal and child health research from the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan.

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