@article {Browning CarmoF117, author = {Kathryn A Browning Carmo and Peter Barr and Maureen West and Neil W Hopper and Jennifer P White and Nadia Badawi}, title = {Transporting newborn infants with suspected duct dependent congenital heart disease on low-dose prostaglandin E1 without routine mechanical ventilation}, volume = {92}, number = {2}, pages = {F117--F119}, year = {2007}, doi = {10.1136/adc.2006.096305}, publisher = {BMJ Publishing Group}, abstract = {Aim: To evaluate the safety of transporting newborn infants with suspected duct dependent congenital heart disease (CHD) treated with prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) without routine mechanical ventilation. Methods: A retrospective population-based audit of newborn infants with suspected CHD transported on PGE1 by the New South Wales newborn and paediatric Transport Service from 1995 through 2005. Results: Mechanical ventilation was not used prior to treatment with PGE1 in 94 (31\%) of the 300 infants. The indications for mechanical ventilation in the remaining 206 infants (69\%) included elective mechanical ventilation because of the intention to use PGE1 (n  =  125) and severe hypoxaemia, acidosis or cardiorespiratory failure prior to commencing PGE1 (n  =  81). 16 (17\%) of the 94 infants who were not ventilated initially required mechanical ventilation before transport because of apnoea, which developed within one hour of commencing PGE1. 2 (2.6\%) of the 78 infants transported without mechanical ventilation developed apnoea in transit and both were receiving ⩾15 ng/kg/min of PGE1. Apnoea was more likely to occur in non-ventilated infants when the PGE1 infusion rate was ⩾15 ng/kg/min compared with \<15 ng/kg/min (14/33 vs 4/61, χ2  =  15.55, p\<.001). Conclusions: Newborn infants with suspected duct dependent CHD treated with low dose PGE1 (\<15 ng/kg/min) may not require mechanical ventilation for safe transport.}, issn = {1359-2998}, URL = {https://fn.bmj.com/content/92/2/F117}, eprint = {https://fn.bmj.com/content/92/2/F117.full.pdf}, journal = {Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition} }