Exploring the NT-proBNP expression in Premature Infants with Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) by Echocardiography

Objectives: To investigate the correlation between echocardiographic indicators and the expression level of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in premature infants (PIs) with patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) and the value of NT-proBNP in diagnosing symptomatic PDA (sPDA) in PIs whose gestational age (GA) was less than 32 weeks.

Methods: Ninty premature infants were selected as the research objects, including 52 in the non-PDA group and 38 in the PDA group (26 sPDA cases and 12 cases with asymptomatic PDA (asPDA)) from February 2019 to March 2020. The general information of these infants was recorded, including gender, delivery method, maternal infection, and serum NT-proBNP level on the 3rd day after birth. They were screened by echocardiographic indicators under an artificial intelligence convolutional neural network (AI-CNN). The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were illustrated to decide serum NT-proBNP expression levels, thereby determining specificity and sensitivity of sPDA and the correlation between serum sPDA NT-proBNP expression and echocardiographic indicators.

Results: The expression level of serum NT-proBNP in the sPDA group was greater than that in the asPDA group and the non-PDA group (P<0.001). The serum NT-proBNP expression level was positively correlated with the diameter of the ductus arteriosus in the sPDA group (r=0.462, P<0.001); it was also positively correlated with the ratio of left atrium/aorta (LA/AO) (r=0.573, P<0.001), but was not correlated with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (r=-0.015, P=0.747).

Conclusion: The combination of serum NT-proBNP expression and echocardiography had clinical values in early diagnosis of PDA.