Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 9, 2026
Closure of a Patent Foramen Ovale PFO: An Intervention Sequence
Published on: December 23, 2022
Characteristics of Extremely Preterm Infants Undergoing Procedural Closure of Patent Ductus Arteriosus: A
N Jayakumar1, G Uthayakumaran1, S M Boyd1,2
1Grace Centre for Newborn Intensive Care, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, Australia.
Background:
Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is the most common cardiac lesion in preterm newborns. When medical management of a hemodynamically significant PDA is unsuccessful or contraindicated, infants are referred for either transcatheter device closure (TCDC) or surgical ligation. Our objective was to describe the characteristics and outcomes of these infants.
Methods:
A retrospective cohort study of infants ≤ 30 weeks' gestation undergoing either TCDC or surgical ligation for PDA from January 2009 to April 2023 was undertaken, in a surgical neonatal intensive care unit. Baseline demographics, echocardiographic data, procedural complications, and neonatal outcomes were obtained.
Results:
A total of 136 infants were included. At the time of referral for PDA closure, infants were 5-145 days old, with a corrected gestational age of 24-50 weeks and PDA diameter of 1.5-4.1 mm. TCDC of PDA was performed in 15 neonates compared with 121 neonates who underwent surgical ligation. Procedural complications and important neonatal outcomes were similar for both groups. While the number of infants undergoing TCDC is increasing, there is a decreasing trend in the total number of surgical PDA closures.
Conclusions:
This study demonstrates that there is variability in the preclosure demographics and echocardiography characteristics of infants ≤ 30 weeks' gestation referred for procedural PDA closure.
