The effect of milrinone on right and left ventricular function when used as a rescue therapy for term infants with pulmonary hypertension.

INTRODUCTION: Milrinone may be an appropriate adjuvant therapy for infants with persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn. We aimed to describe the effect of milrinone administration on right and left ventricular function in infants with persistent pulmonary hypertension not responding to inhaled nitric oxide after 4 hours of administration. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective review of infants born after or at 34 weeks of gestation with persistent pulmonary hypertension who received milrinone treatment. The primary endpoint was the effect of milrinone on myocardial performance and haemodynamics, including right and left ventricular outputs, tissue Doppler velocities, right ventricle and septal strain, and strain rate. Secondary endpoints examined included duration of inhaled nitric oxide and oxygen support. RESULTS: A total of 17 infants with a mean (standard deviation) gestation and birth weight of 39.8 (2.0) weeks and 3.45 (0.39) kilograms, respectively, were included in the study. The first echocardiogram was performed 15 hours after the commencement of nitric oxide inhalation. Milrinone treatment was started at a median time of 1 hour after the echocardiogram and was associated with an increase in left ventricular output (p=0.04), right ventricular output (p=0.004), right ventricle strain (p=0.01) and strain rate (p=0.002), and left ventricle s` (p<0.001) and a` (p=0.02) waves. There was a reduction in nitric oxide dose and oxygen requirement over the subsequent 72 hours (all p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The use of milrinone as an adjunct to nitric oxide is worth further exploration, with preliminary evidence suggesting an improvement in both oxygenation and myocardial performance in this group of infants.

Assessment of myocardial performance in preterm infants less than 29 weeks gestation during the transitional period.

BACKGROUND: The transitional circulation and its effect on myocardial performance are poorly understood in preterm infants. AIMS: We assessed myocardial performance in infants less than 29 weeks gestation in the first 48 h of life using a comprehensive echocardiographic assessment. DESIGN: Infants <29 weeks gestation were prospectively enrolled. Small for gestation, infants on inotropes and/or inhaled nitric oxide and septic infants were excluded. Conventional echocardiography, left ventricular (LV), septal and right ventricular (RV) tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) and tissue Doppler-derived strain and strain rate (SR), tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) and global RV fractional area change (FAC) were assessed at a median of 10 and 45 h post-delivery. RESULTS: Fifty-four infants with a median [IQR] gestation and birth weight of 26.5 weeks [25.8-28.0 weeks] and 915 g [758-1142 g] were included. There was no change in shortening or ejection fraction across the two time points. Systolic and diastolic TDI of the LV, septum and RV increased across the two time points (all p values ≤ 0.01). There was an increase in septal peak systolic and early diastolic SR (p=0.002). Septal systolic strain and late diastolic SR did not change. With the exception of RV strain and early diastolic SR, all RV functional parameters including SR, late diastolic SR, TAPSE, and FAC increased across the two time points (all p values<0.01). CONCLUSION: Describing the normal hemodynamic adaptations in stable preterm infants during the transitional period provides the necessary information for the assessment of those parameters in various disease states.

Transcutaneous bilirubin--comparing the accuracy of BiliChek® and JM 103® in a regional postnatal unit.

OBJECTIVE: Transcutaneous bilirubin (TcB) has the potential to reduce serum bilirubin sampling. During a recent survey on the use of TcB in postnatal units in the Republic of Ireland, we identified that only 58% of the 19 units were using TcB and that only two devices were in use, the BiliChek® and JM 103®. We aimed to evaluate and compare these two devices in a regional postnatal unit. METHODS: To evaluate and compare the accuracy of the BiliChek® and JM 103®, we studied simultaneous TcB and total serum bilirubin (TSB) measurements from a population of jaundiced term and near term infants. We evaluated each device with regard to correlation with TSB and potential to safely reduce serum bilirubin testing. RESULTS: Both TcB devices strongly correlated with TSB (r = 0.88 for BiliChek® and r = 0.70 for JM 103®. The BiliChek® and JM 103® were accurate up to cut-off values of 200 µmol/L and 180 µmol/L, respectively. Using Bhutani's nomogram, 100% sensitivity was achieved using the 75th percentile for BiliChek® and the 40th percentile for JM 103®. CONCLUSION: Both TcB devices correlated closely with moderately increased TSB levels and are suitable screening tools to identify jaundiced infants that require a serum bilirubin, with upper limit cut-off values. Both devices reduced the need for TSB levels. We found the BiliChek® slightly more accurate than the JM 103® for our study population. TcB however, is not in widespread use.