Weight Gain in Children with Patent Ductus Arteriosus

¹ Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Physiology, College of Medicine, University of Florida

Ninety of 342 patients with a surgically corrected patent ductus arteriosus exhibited severe preoperative growth failure as manifested by weights below the third percentile for age and sex. These children were found to have an increased incidence of maternal rubella, prematurity, diminished exercise tolerance, congestive heart failure, and pneumonia. In addition, these children were prone to have an elevated pulmonary artery pressure and less likely to have classic machinery-like murmur and a normal electrocardiogram.

Followup information was obtained on 72 of these 90 patients and it was found that 24 of these children had not reached the third percentile in weight two or more years after surgery. The preoperative data was again examined for clues of prognostic value. Congestive heart failure and the presence of additional non-cardiac congenital anomalies were more common in those children who did not gain weight satisfactorily. Eight children had additional problems that might have accounted for continuing growth failure.

The number of children showing continued poor postoperative weight gain is not statistically different from the expected value. Thus, while patent ductus arteriosus caused poor preoperative weight gains in 26 per cent of the cases, closure of ductus corrected this, although sometimes taking over two years.