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The diagnosis of a haemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus (sPDA) in preterm infants is often difficult, with echocardiography remaining the gold standard.1 However, availability and cost pose some difficulties. B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) may assist diagnosis, but cut-off levels vary widely in the literature. No data exist on the applicability of the byproduct N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NTpBNP), which is more stable and has a longer half life.2 We hypothesised that NTpBNP may be useful in the management of preterm infants with sPDA and aimed to investigate its usefulness as a marker of sPDA and treatment success.
Method
The local ethics committee approved the study, and informed written parental consent was obtained from all parents prior …
Footnotes
This project was funded by the hospital's research fund which is accumulated from private donations from parents. Corporate donations are not used for research in this institution. We do not accept donations or sponsorships from drug companies.
Competing interests: None.