Hemodynamic effects of high frequency ventilation in surfactant-treated preterm lambs

We compared the hemodynamic status and left ventricular (LV) performance in 7 twin pairs of preterm lambs delivered at 124 days gestational age (83% of term gestation) and ventilated by either conventional ventilation (CV) or high frequency ventilation (HFV) at 15 Hz. The lambs were treated with suspensions of natural sheep surfactant to permit ventilation and survival, and ventilatory settings were adjusted to maintain physiologic blood gas values. The ductus arteriosus was occluded with a balloon catheter at 40-45 min of age to eliminate the variable of a left to right ductal shunt. Cineangiocardiographic, pressure, and blood flow measurements were made 1 and 2 h after ductal occlusion. At the same mean airway pressures, the heart rates, LV end-diastolic volumes, and mean arterial pressures were similar in both groups. LV stroke volumes, ejection fractions, LV outputs, and organ blood flows also did not differ between the two groups. When compared with CV, HFV provides comparable ventilation with no apparent deleterious hemodynamic effects in preterm surfactant-treated lambs with occluded ductus arteriosus.