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. 2022 Dec;111(12):2322-2330.
doi: 10.1111/apa.16541. Epub 2022 Sep 28.

The chance of spontaneous patent ductus arteriosus closure in preterm infants born before 32 weeks of gestation is high and continues to increase until 5 years of follow-up

Mette Rønn Nielsen  1 , Anna Elisabet Aldenryd  1 , Søren Hagstrøm  1 , Lia Mendes Pedersen  1 , Ninna Brix  1
Affiliations

The chance of spontaneous patent ductus arteriosus closure in preterm infants born before 32 weeks of gestation is high and continues to increase until 5 years of follow-up

Mette Rønn Nielsen et al. Acta Paediatr. 2022 Dec.

Abstract

Aim: The primary aim was to estimate premature infants' spontaneous patent ductus arteriosus closure rate. Secondly, to identify criteria associated with the chance of spontaneous closure.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of 167 infants born before 32 weeks of gestation and diagnosed with a patent ductus arteriosus between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2017. The spontaneous patent ductus arteriosus closure event rate was evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier estimator.

Results: The spontaneous closure rate within the first year of life was 66% (95% CI 58%-73%), increasing to 80% (95% CI 72%-86%) five years after birth. When including both spontaneous closure and closure following treatment, 96% (95% CI 86%-100%) closed within 5 years after birth. The chance of spontaneous closure was reduced in the case of a large patent ductus arteriosus: OR 0.16 (95% CI 0.05-0.52), left atrial enlargement: OR 0.16 (95% CI 0.05-0.51), and pulmonary hypertension: OR 0.23 (95% CI 0.07-0.74).

Conclusion: The chance of spontaneous closure in premature infants born between 23 and 32 weeks of gestation was high, and the incidence continued increasing until 5 years of follow-up.

Keywords: neonatology; patent ductus arteriosus; preterm.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Flowchart of the study population and the PDA outcome and treatment distribution before and after hospital discharge in the total cohort of 167 infants. PDA, patent ductus arteriosus
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Kaplan–Meier curves illustrate the spontaneous PDA closure rate (red curve) and the total PDA closure rate (blue curve), including spontaneously closed PDAs and PDAs closed after treatment. Time is given in years after birth. PDA: patent ductus arteriosus. Kaplan–Meier estimations are corrected for follow‐up time and are therefore different from the proportion of spontaneously closed PDAs shown in Table 2
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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