Soham Dasgupta1, Ashraf M Aly2, Michael H Malloy3, Anthony O Okorodudu4, Sunil K Jain5. 1. Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA. 2. Department of Pediatric Cardiology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA. 3. Department of Neonatology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA. 4. Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA. 5. Department of Neonatology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA. skjain@utmb.edu.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a known complication of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). This study aimed to determine the utility of serial N-Terminal pro-Brain Natriuretic Peptide (NTproBNP) levels in the screening of BPD associated PH (BPD-PH) in preterm infants. STUDY DESIGN: Infants with birth weight <1500 g and <30 week corrected gestational age (CGA) were followed with serial NTproBNP levels and echocardiograms (ECHO). They were divided into control, BPD and BPD-PH groups. Statistical analyses included repeated measures analysis of variance and receiver operator curve (ROC) generation. RESULTS: Infants in the BPD-PH and BPD group had significantly elevated NTproBNP levels as compared to the control group. ROC curves for NTproBNP at 28 weeks CGA provided a cut-point of 2329 pg/ml and 578.1 pg/ml for detection of BPD-PH and BPD, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: NTproBNP appears to be a good screening tool to determine the onset of BPD-PH as early as 28 weeks CGA.
OBJECTIVE:Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a known complication of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). This study aimed to determine the utility of serial N-Terminal pro-Brain Natriuretic Peptide (NTproBNP) levels in the screening of BPD associated PH (BPD-PH) in preterm infants. STUDY DESIGN:Infants with birth weight <1500 g and <30 week corrected gestational age (CGA) were followed with serial NTproBNP levels and echocardiograms (ECHO). They were divided into control, BPD and BPD-PH groups. Statistical analyses included repeated measures analysis of variance and receiver operator curve (ROC) generation. RESULTS:Infants in the BPD-PH and BPD group had significantly elevated NTproBNP levels as compared to the control group. ROC curves for NTproBNP at 28 weeks CGA provided a cut-point of 2329 pg/ml and 578.1 pg/ml for detection of BPD-PH and BPD, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: NTproBNP appears to be a good screening tool to determine the onset of BPD-PH as early as 28 weeks CGA.