Feasibility and utility of portable ultrasound during retrieval of sick preterm infants

• Published in: Acta Paediatrica 2017-08, Vol.106 (8), p.1296-1301
• Main Authors: Browning Carmo, Kathryn, Lutz, Tracey, Greenhalgh, Mark, Berry, Andrew, Kluckow, Martin, Evans, Nick
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Babies; Birth weight; Blood flow; Cerebral Intraventricular Hemorrhage - diagnostic imaging; Cerebral Intraventricular Hemorrhage - epidemiology; Cerebral Intraventricular Hemorrhage - etiology; Feasibility Studies; Female; Gestation; Heart; Heart diseases; Humans; Incidence; Infant, Newborn; Infant, Premature; Infants; Male; Neonate; Neonates; New South Wales - epidemiology; Newborn; Newborn babies; Pathology; Point-of-Care Systems; Premature babies; Preterm; Prospective Studies; Skull; Transport; Transportation of Patients; Ultrasonic imaging; Ultrasonography - statistics & numerical data; Ultrasound; Ventricle
• ISSN: 0803-5253; 1651-2227
• DOI: 10.1111/apa.13881

Aim Document the incidence of haemodynamic pathology in critically ill preterm newborns requiring transport. Method A transport neonatologist performed cardiac and cerebral ultrasound before and after transportation of infants born ≤30 weeks gestation. Results Forty‐four newborns were studied in 2008–2015; of them, 21 were transported by road, 19, by helicopter and four, by fixed wing: median birthweight, 1130 g (680–1960 g) and median gestation, 27 weeks (23–30); 30 of 44 were male babies. Antenatal steroid course was complete in two babies. Ultrasound in the referring hospital was at a mean of two hours: 47 minutes (00:15–7:00) of age. Low systemic blood flow was common: 50% had right ventricular output