The Efficacy of Implementing a Treatment Algorithm in Managing Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) in the Extremely Low Birth Weight Neonatal Population.

The treatment of PDAs (patent ductus arteriosus) in both the premature and term neonatal population has been the source of thorough research for decades. Common treatment pathways include supportive care, pharmaceutical treatment (via indomethacin, ibuprofen, or acetaminophen), and surgical correction. Many PDAs self-resolve, some are not detected to adulthood, and others may never be discovered. However, determining which neonates with PDAs require pharmaceutical versus surgical management, and which can be managed with supportive care, can be difficult to differentiate. A standardized neonatal PDA treatment algorithm, one that assesses clinical significance, echocardiogram findings, and systemic PDA effects, and one that recommends the optimal treatment course based on these findings, would be helpful in medical management of neonatal PDAs in the ELBW (extremely low birth weight) population.

Inclusion criteria

• All patients admitted to the BUMCP and CCMC NICUs with a birth weight ≤1000g and an echocardiogram-confirmed PDA, regardless of GA.

Exclusion criteria

• Patients who have serious comorbidities that are not directly related to their symptomatic PDA will be excluded (chromosomal abnormalities, serious kidney pathology, other hemodynamically significant heart defects, or serious comorbidities at the researcher's discretion). This will allow the researchers to better determine the efficacy of the treatment algorithm, without the results being confounded by unusual comorbidities.