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Perfusion index and left ventricular output correlation in healthy term infants

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An Erratum to this article was published on 05 June 2017

This article has been updated

Abstract

Perfusion index (PI) is a non-invasive marker of peripheral perfusion which is detected by an oximeter. We aimed to assess the correlation between PI and left ventricular output (LVO) in healthy term infants at the time of the screening for congenital heart disease (CHD). PI was measured at 48±2 h of life in the infant’s right hand (PIrh) and in one foot (PIf) contemporary to SpO2 for CHD screening. Heart ultrasound was performed immediately after the screening procedure for measuring LVO. Forty-nine healthy term infants were studied. PIrh and PIf were 1.9 ± 0.6 and 1.9 ± 0.8, respectively, and their values were significantly correlated (p < 0.0001) with a coefficient r = 0.8. Bland–Altman analysis shows a mean difference of −0.06 ± 0.47 (95%LOA −0.98–0.86). PIrh correlates with LVO (r = 0.68) and LVO/kg (r = 0.61) with an increase of 151 mL/min (95%CI 103–198) of LVO and 42 mL/kg/min (95%CI 26–58) of LVO/kg per point of PIrh. PIf correlates with LVO (r = 0.74) and LVO/kg (r = 0.73) with an increase of 123 mL/min (95%CI 90–155) of LVO and 37 mL/kg/min (95%CI 27–47) of LVO/kg per point of PIf.

Conclusion: PI is significantly correlated with LVO in healthy term infants. These results support the theoretical potential role of PI in the CHD screening.

What is Known:

• Perfusion index is an indirect measure of perfusion which depends on cardiac output and peripheral vascular resistance whose normal values have been documented in term and preterm infants in the first days of life.

• Perfusion index has been proposed for the screening of congenital heart disease with duct-dependent systemic circulation in term infants.

What is New:

• Perfusion index shows a significant correlation with the left ventricular output in term infants at the moment of the screening for congenital heart disease.

• Perfusion index might have a theoretical role in improving the accuracy of pulse oximetry in the screening of CHD associated to low systemic flow.

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Change history

  • 05 June 2017

    An erratum to this article has been published.

Abbreviations

CHD:

Congenital heart disease

LVO:

Left ventricular output

PI:

Perfusion index

RC:

Repeatability coefficient

RVO:

Right ventricular output

SpO2 :

Pulse oximetry

SVCf:

Superior vena cava flow

VTI:

Velocity-time integral

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Neonatology, Careggi University Hospital, University of Florence School of Medicine, Florence, Italy

    Iuri Corsini, Alessandra Cecchi, Caterina Coviello & Carlo Dani

  2. Department of Neurosciences, Psychology, Drug Research and Child Health, Careggi University Hospital of Florence, Florence, Italy

    Carlo Dani

Authors
  1. Iuri Corsini
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  2. Alessandra Cecchi
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  3. Caterina Coviello
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  4. Carlo Dani
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Contributions

IC designed the study, performed the data collection and analysis, carried out the analyses, drafted the manuscript, and approved the final manuscript as submitted. AC and CC participated in data analysis, reviewed and revised the manuscript, and approved the final manuscript as submitted. CD participated to study design, supervised data collection and analysis, reviewed and revised the manuscript, and approved the final manuscript as submitted.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carlo Dani.

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Funding

This study was carried out without specific funding.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

Communicated by Patrick Van Reempts

The original version of this article was revised: The published version of the manuscript was not the revised version thus the changes were made in this article.

An erratum to this article is available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-017-2939-3.

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Corsini, I., Cecchi, A., Coviello, C. et al. Perfusion index and left ventricular output correlation in healthy term infants. Eur J Pediatr 176, 1013–1018 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-017-2920-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-017-2920-1

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