Normal reference ranges for cardiac valve cross-sectional areas in preterm infants

Abstract

Objective:To establish normal reference ranges for cardiac valve crosssectional areas (CSAs) in preterm infants and their correlation with gestational age, body weight, and chronological age.Materials and Methods:In a prospective study, 268 preterm babies fulfilling the criteria for inclusion were examined. Echocardiograms were performed to measure aortic, pulmonary, mitral, and tricuspid valve CSAs on 0–6 day (s) of life and at weekly intervals until they reached 36 weeks. Gestational age was divided into three groups, 24–27, 28–31, and 32–35 weeks, and body weight was divided into five groups, ≤999, 1000–1499, 1500–1999, 2000–2499, and ≥2500 g. Overall group differences were compared for each period of life: 0–6 days and 1–2, 3–4, and ≥5 weeks.Results:The mean gestational age was 29.8 (±2.38 standard deviation [SD]) weeks, ranging between 24 and 35 weeks, and the mean body weight was 1479 (±413 SD) g, ranging between 588 and 3380 g. All cardiac valve CSAs correlated well with body weight. A significant gradual increase was observed in all valve CSAs with body weight during each period of life. Overall, a progressive and significant increase in all valve CSAs was observed during the first 9 weeks of life.Conclusions:Cardiac valve CSAs were found to be significantly correlated with body weight. The study also provides reference data, which can be used as a normal reference tool for valve CSAs in preterm infants against gestational age, body weight, and chronological age.

Percentile curves of normal echocardiographic measurements values for left heart structures in 1570 Han Chinese preterm and term infants

“…In neonatal intensive care units, length is measured less frequently than weight, and it is difficult to measure body length in neonates using the tape‐measure technique, which is inaccurate and occasionally leads to underestimation of BSA on birth weight and length calculated using the DuBois and DuBois formula. Therefore, BSA and length were not used as independent variables in our study 18 …”

Normal reference ranges for cardiac valve cross-sectional areas in preterm infants

“…on the normal reference ranges for cardiac valve cross-sectional areas (CSAs) in preterm infants in Kuwait. [ 1 ]…”

“…The authors provided reference data, which can be used as a normal reference tool for valve CSAs in preterm infants against gestational age, body weight, and chronological age. [ 1 ] The authors addressed few limitations. They used the continuity equation to calculate valve CSAs, which sometimes alters due to changes in hemodynamics.…”

“…Moreover, the continuity equation method might be more complicated for clinical use, and they did not correlate the results obtained using this method with those obtained using other methods. [ 1 ] I presume that the following limitation is additionally contributory and might cast some suspicions on the study results and their constructed reference values. In the methodology, the authors stated that the studied babies were from a mixed population (most were Arabic, and the remainder were from other Asian nations).…”

“…In the methodology, the authors stated that the studied babies were from a mixed population (most were Arabic, and the remainder were from other Asian nations). [ 1 ] This point is important to be considered as many echocardiographic parameters have been found to vary among different ethnic groups[ 2 ] and construction of ethnic-appropriate echocardiographic reference values is needed to be employed in the clinical settings and research field for a given population. [ 3 ]…”