Assessment of Normal Values ofEchocardiography in Healthy Neonates

Abstract

SUMMARY P oint-of-care ultrasound is increasingly used by in the intensive care setting to support clinical decisions. The technology may be applied to evaluation of the neonatal heart, brain, and abdomen/pelvis and to facilitate vascular access. The terms targeted neonatal echocardiography and point-of-care echocardiography have been introduced to describe the use of echocardiography as an adjunct in the clinical assessment of the hemodynamic status in neonates. Targeted neonatal echocardiography (TNE) is used to longitudinal assessment myocardial function through evaluation of LV systolic and diastolic functions, RV function, systemic and pulmonary blood flow, intracardiac and extracardiac shunts, organ blood flow and tissue perfusion. This a descriptive study aimed to assess the normal values of TNE in normal healthy newborns. This study was conducted in the Pediatric Cardiology and neonatology Unit, Children's Hospital, AinShamsUniversity during the period from December 2013 to June 2015. It included fifty healthy neonates. The age of the studied neonates ranged from 0-28 days. 11 neonates were in the 1st24 hours. One newborn was in the second day. 31 neonates were from 48 hours to 7 days. 7 neonates were from 7days to 28 days. Among the studied neonates, there were 8 near-term neonates (gestation age 36 weeks) and 42 neonates full term (gestational age < 37 weeks). All normal healthy newborns aged from 0 to 28 days were included in the study. Neonates with neonatal sepsis, congenital heart disease and with maternal risk factors such as Diabetes Milletus were excluded.