Patent ductus arteriosus
Failure for the ductus arteriosus, an arterial shunt in fetal life, to close on schedule.
Before birth, blood pumped from the heart through the pulmonary artery toward the lungs is shunted into the aorta. This arterial shunt is a short vessel called the ductus arteriosus. When the shunt is open, it is said to be patent
The ductus arteriosus usually closes at or shortly after birth, permitting blood from that moment on to course from the heart directly to the lungs. However, if the ductus arteriosus remains open (patent), flow reverses and blood from the aorta is shunted left-to-right into the pulmonary artery and thence recirculated through the lungs.
Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a particularly common problem in premature infants with the respiratory distress syndrome. The left-to-right shunt through the ductus increases their risk of serious complications including brain hemorrhage.
A PDA may close spontaneously (on its own). If not, it needs to be prompted pharmacologically to close and, if that does not work, it must be ligated (tied off) surgically.
IV indomethacin (Indocin) was the conventional therapy to promote closure of PDA in premies but indomethacin affects blood flow to organs such as the kidney and so may lead to complications such as renal failure. Ibuprofen (the active ingredient in Advil, Motrin, Medipren and Nuprin) has been found to work as well as indomethacin in treating PDA in preterm infants with the respiratory distress syndrome and is less likely to impair their kidney function.
Dr. Robert E. Gross at Boston Children’s Hospital in 1939 devised the surgical approach to correcting patent ductus arteriosus by ligating it.
Read Also:
- Parasitemia
The presence of parasites in the blood. In malaria, a measure called the parasitemia index reflects the severity of the disease.
- Papillomavirus, human
One of the family of more than 100 viruses that are responsible for causing warts. Abbreviated HPV. The majority of HPVs produce warts on the hands, fingers, or face. Most of these warts are innocuous, causing nothing more than cosmetic concerns. Several types of HPV are confined primarily to the moist skin of the genitals, […]
- Papillomatosis, recurrent respiratory
Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis involves the growth of numerous warty growths in the larynx on the vocal cords in children and young adults. A baby can contract recurrent respiratory papillomatosis by being contaminated with the human papilloma virus (HPV) during birth through the vaginal canal of a mother with genital warts (which are also due to […]
- Papillomatosis, laryngeal
The presence of numerous warty growths on the vocal cords caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), which is contracted at birth via the ‘vaginal canal of a mother with genital warts. Laryngeal papillomatosis is most common in young children under age 3 but m
- Patho-
A prefix derived from the Greek “pathos” meaning “suffering or disease.” Patho- serves as a prefix for many terms including pathogen (disease agent), pathogenesis (development of disease), pathology (study of disease), etc. The corresponding suffix is -pathy.