Echocardiographic assessment of blood flow volume in the superior vena cava and descending aorta in the newborn infant

Abstract

Echocardiographic assessments of volume of SVC flow and velocity of DAo flow have similar within-observer repeatability to other neonatal haemodynamic measurements. Between-observer repeatability for both measurements was poor, reflecting the difficulty of standardising these novel techniques. In this small cohort of preterm infants, SVC flow volume <55 ml/kg/min and DAo stroke distance <4.5 cm represented low or borderline systemic perfusion in the first 48 h of postnatal life.