Invasive interventions have been conducted in preterm infants with significant patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) when medical treatment has failed, and methods of invasive intervention have been reported. Surgical ligation via lateral thoracotomy has been a well-established procedure for decades. Recently, transcatheter occlusion has been safely and feasibly applied to the premature population. However, little research has been conducted on the benefits of transcatheter occlusion in very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants compared to surgical ligation. This study compared transcatheter and surgical techniques in VLBW infants in terms of short-term respiratory outcomes. The medical records of 401 VLBW infants admitted to a tertiary hospital between September 2014 and January 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients who were diagnosed with a congenital anomaly, a chromosomal anomaly, or congenital heart disease, except for an inter-atrial shunt, were excluded. The perinatal conditions, neonatal morbidities, periprocedural vital signs, and respiratory support trajectories were compared between the transcatheter-treated and surgically ligated group. A total of 31 eligible VLBW infants received invasive intervention: 14 were treated with transcatheter occlusion (Group A), and 17 infants were treated with surgical ligation (Group B). Respiratory outcomes were not statistically significant between the two groups, despite Group A showing a trend toward early improvement in post-intervention respiratory trajectory. In this small case study, a different trend in post-intervention respiratory trajectories was observed. Future research with larger case numbers should be conducted to address our preliminary observations in more detail.

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Objective Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a common complication among premature infants, which may be responsible for prematurity‐related complications such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). It is unclear whether different interventional methods contribute to the severity of BPD, given the original National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) 2001 definition. To date, surgical ligation and the transcatheter approach have been equally successful in premature infants with hemodynamically significant PDA after medical treatment failure. Immediate improvement in the respiratory condition has been reported after transcatheter closure. However, the short‐term pulmonary outcome has not been clarified yet. Methods This retrospective study investigated infants born with a body weight <1000 g and who underwent either surgical ligation or transcatheter closure of PDA in a single tertiary institution. The infants were divided into groups according to the type of procedure (surgical ligation or transcatheter occlusion). The primary outcome was the severity of BPD at discharge or at a postmenstrual age of 36 weeks. The outcome was analyzed with logistic regression. Results Forty‐four patients met the inclusion criteria, of whom 14 underwent transcatheter occlusion and 30 underwent surgical ligation. The overall birth body weights and gestational age ranges were not different. The univariate model revealed an association between the procedure type and BPD severity. After adjusting for confounders, the multivariate model confirmed associations between BPD severity and procedure type and severe respiratory distress syndrome requiring surfactant. Conclusion Compared with the transcatheter approach, surgery for PDA in extremely preterm infants is associated with severe BPD at discharge. Further large‐scale studies are needed to determine the exact mechanism.

Cardiovascular catheterization has been applied in infant treatment for several decades. To date, considerable research attention has been paid to cardiovascular catheterization in small neonates. However, peripheral vascular routes of catheterization are possible obstacles for interventionists. Umbilical vein catheterization has been reported as a route for neonates, although few attempts have been made to investigate this approach. This study aimed to retrospectively review cardiovascular intervention using the umbilical vein approach as applied to infants admitted to a tertiary center from 2017 to 2020. Details including the perinatal variables, indication diagnoses, and procedure devices were collected. The enrollment included a total of 16 cases representing 17 intervention events, with infants born at a gestation age of 22–39 weeks and body weight ranging from 478 to 3685 g at the time of the procedure. The postnatal age ranged from 1 to 27 days. The catheter sizes ranged from 4 to 11 Fr. Indications included being admitted for patent ductus arteriosus occlusion (n = 15), balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty (n = 3), balloon atrial septostomy (BAS) (n = 3), pulmonary valve (PV) perforation (n = 1), and two interventions for catheter placement for continuous venovenous hemofiltration. The success rate for cardiovascular catheterization was 88.2% (15/17). There were two patients for which cannulation failed due to ductus venosus closure: one intraabdominal hemorrhage complication during continuous venovenous hemofiltration (CVVH), and one cardiac catheterization failure of PV perforation due to failure to insert the guiding catheter into the right ventricular outflow tract. Based on these findings, we conclude that cardiac catheterization and the placement of a large-sized catheter through an umbilical vein in a small infant represents a safe and time-saving method when catheterization is required.