Early diastolic dysfunction and respiratory morbidity in premature infants: an observational study

Objectiveto test if diastolic dysfunction measured on day one of age is associated with the need for invasive ventilation in preterm infants.study designwe conducted a retrospective observational tissue doppler echocardiographic study over the first 12 h of age for infants born <32 weeks who were invasively ventilated, and infants on continuous positive pressure ventilation (cpap).resultsone hundred and eighty-three infants were included (27 ± 2 weeks and 999 ± 296 g). invasively ventilated infants [(n = 96 (53%)] had lower left ventricular (lv) e‘ (3.4 ± 1.0 vs. 4.1 ± 1.5 cm/s, p < 0.01) and lower lv ea‘ ratio (0.8 ± 0.2 vs. 1.0 ± 0.4, p < 0.01), even after adjusting for common neonatal confounders (lv e‘ adjusted or 0.62, 95% ci 0.45 – 0.87, p < 0.01; lv ea‘ adjusted or 0.14, 95% ci 0.03–0.68, p = 0.01).conclusionlv diastolic dysfunction is independently associated with a higher risk for invasive ventilation on day one of age.