Blood pressure ranges in premature infants. I. The first hours of life

doi:10.1016/S0022-3476(05)83146-4

The Journal of Pediatrics

Volume 124, Issue 4, April 1994, Pages 627-633

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3476(05)83146-4 Get rights and content

We studied blood pressure in the first hours of life in a cohort, of 1105 preterm infants weighing 501 to 2000 gm; these infants represented, 83% of all births at these weights that resulted in admission to three intensive care nurseries, during a 34-month period between 1984 and 1987. To assess the effects of specific risk factors, we identified 244 healthy infants, 164 infants who received mechanical ventilation but had no other conditions, 47 infants whose only risk factor was the presence of hypertension or preeclampsia in the mother, and 86 infants with depressed Apgar scores regardless of the presence of the other conditions. We documented each infant's minimum and maximum systolic (S_min, S_max) and diastolic (D_min, D_max) pressures during the first 3 to 6 hours of life. In the healthy group, S_min was 47 mm Hg; S_max, 59 mm Hg; D_min, 24 mm Hg; and D_max, 35 mm Hg. In the ventilation group, S_min was 41 mm Hg; S_max, 57 mm Hg; D_min, 22 mm Hg; and D_max, 35 mm Hg. The S_min and D_min values were both significantly lower in infants who received mechanical ventilation than in healthy infants (p<0.01). In the maternal hypertension group, S_min was 49 mm Hg; S_max, 59 mm Hg; D_min, 25 mm Hg; and D_max, 34 mm Hg. Only the S_min value was significantly higher than in healthy infants. In the group with low Apgar scores, S_min was 33 mm Hg; S_max, 51 mm Hg; D_min, 19 Hg; and D_max, 34 mm Hg. Thus all these values were significantly lower than in all the other groups (p<0.05). Of infants with low Apgar scores, 20% to 50% had values below the 5th percentile for healthy infants. Birth weight and gestational age correlated with blood pressure limits only in the infants with low Apgar scores. We conclude that in healthy premature infants the limits of systolic and diastolic blood pressure are independent of birth weight and gestational age. Infants with low Apgar scores tend to have lower pressures and infants whose mothers have hypertension have higher pressures than infants in the healthy cohort.

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^†: Supported by grant No. RO1-NS-20713 from the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke.

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Blood pressure ranges in premature infants. I. The first hours of life†

J Pediatr

Am Heart J

J Pediatr

Early Hum Dev

The Central New Jersey Neonatal Brain Hemorrhage Study: design of the study and reliability of the ultrasound diagnosis

Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol

Effect of mechanical ventilation and volume loading on left ventricular performance in premature neonates with respiratory distress syndrome

Crit Care Med

Elevated blood pressure in infants of preeclamptic mothers

Pediatr Res

Blood pressure studies of infants

Am J Physiol

Perinatal asphyxia: factors which predict developmental outcome

Dev Med Child Neurol

Pneumothorax in the respiratory distress syndrome: incidence and effect on vital signs, blood gases, and pH

Pediatrics

Pulmonary and systemic arterial pressure in hyaline membrane disease

Arch Dis Child

Aortic blood pressure in normal newborn infants during the first 12 hours of life

Pediatrics

Aortic blood pressure during the first 12 hours of life in infants with birth weight 610 to 4,220 grams

Pediatrics