Treatment
Neonates without adverse symptoms may simply be monitored as outpatients, while symptomatic PDA can be treated with both surgical and non-surgical methods. Surgically, the DA may be closed by ligation (though support in premature infants is mixed), wherein the DA is manually tied shut, or with intravascular coils or plugs that leads to formation of a thrombus in the DA. This was first performed in humans by Robert E. Gross.
Because Prostaglandin E1 is responsible for keeping the ductus patent, NSAIDS (inhibitors of prostaglandin synthesis) such as indomethacin or a special form of ibuprofen have been used to help close a PDA. This is an especially viable alternative for premature infants.
In certain cases it may be beneficial to the neonate to prevent closure of the ductus arteriosus. For example, in transposition of the great vessels, a PDA may prolong the newborn's life until surgical correction is possible. The ductus arteriosus can be induced to remain open by administering prostaglandin analogs such as alprostadil or misoprostol (prostaglandin E1 analogs).
More recently, PDAs can be closed by percutaneous interventional method. Via the femoral vein or femoral artery, a platinum coil can be deployed via a catheter, which induces thrombosis (coil embolization). Alternatively, a PDA occluder device (AGA Medical), composed of nitinol mesh, is deployed from the pulmonary artery through the PDA. The larger skirt of the device sits on the aortic side while the ampulla of the device hugs the walls of the PDA, with care taken to avoid occlusion of the pulmonary arterial lumen by the device. These methods permit closure without open heart surgery.
Read more about this topic: Patent Ductus Arteriosus
Famous quotes containing the word treatment:
“To me, nothing can be more important than giving children books, It’s better to be giving books to children than drug treatment to them when they’re 15 years old. Did it ever occur to anyone that if you put nice libraries in public schools you wouldn’t have to put them in prisons?”
—Fran Lebowitz (20th century)
“I will use treatment to help the sick according to my ability and judgment, but never with a view to injury and wrongdoing. Neither will I administer a poison to anybody when asked to do so, nor will I suggest such a course. Similarly, I will not give to a woman a pessary to cause abortion. I will keep pure and holy both my life and my art.”
—Hippocrates (c. 460–c. 370 B.C.)
“[17th-century] Puritans were the first modern parents. Like many of us, they looked on their treatment of children as a test of their own self-control. Their goal was not to simply to ensure the child’s duty to the family, but to help him or her make personal, individual commitments. They were the first authors to state that children must obey God rather than parents, in case of a clear conflict.”
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)