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Updated: Oct 16, 2026
Hemodynamic Precision in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit using Targeted Neonatal Echocardiography
Published on: January 27, 2023
Echocardiographic predictors of outcome in newborns with congenital diaphragmatic hernia
1Division of Cardiology, Departments of Paediatrics and Critical Care Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Objective:
Despite new treatments, congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) still has high mortality. The aim of this study was to identify echocardiographic predictors of outcome in newborns with an isolated CDH.
Methods:
We reviewed medical charts and echocardiograms of 40 newborns who presented with CDH in the first 24 hours of life, from 1992 to 1996. We compared the cardiac valves and great arteries diameters, left-ventricular volume and mass, Apgar scores, and modified McGoon index (the combined diameter of hilar pulmonary arteries, indexed to the descending aorta) of survivors and nonsurvivors. We performed Student's t test and multiple logistic regression analysis between the 2 groups.
Results:
Fourteen patients died 1 to 33 days after birth (median: 3 days), including 8 from progressive hypoxemia without operation; 26 have survived up to 5 years (median: 2 years) after successful operations. Nonsurvivors had significantly smaller diameters of right and left hilar pulmonary arteries, more frequent right-sided CDH, and lower mean Apgar scores at 1 and 5 minutes. The most significant prognostic factor was the modified McGoon index. A modified McGoon index
Conclusion:
Echocardiographic measurement of hilar pulmonary arteries, which may represent the adequacy of the pulmonary vascular bed, is a strong prognostic factor for newborns with congenital CDH.
