RESUSCITATION OF THE VERY IMMATURE INFANT - CEREBRAL DOPPLER FLOW VELOCITIES IN THE 1ST 20 MINUTES OF LIFE

Blood flow velocity of the anterior cerebral artery was investigated b y Doppler ultrasonography in five time intervals up to 20 min after bi rth in 16 non-asphyxiated very immature infants (median birth weight 1 ,058 g, range 720-1,930 g; median gestational age 30 weeks, range 27-3 2 weeks) delivered by caesarean section and intubated after birth. Hea rt frequency, oscillometric mean arterial blood pressure and blood gas es were recorded as well. There was a transitory increase in both syst olic and end-diastolic velocities (from 29 to 35 and from 1 to 10 cm/s ) during the first 5 min after birth which occurred together with an i ncrease in heart frequency. The overall incidence of intracranial haem orrhage was low (3/16, 19%). This observation study shows a transitory increase in cerebral blood flow velocity with a peak at about 5 min a fter birth in preterm infants <33 weeks of gestation undergoing standa rd resuscitation.