Acetaminofén intravenoso en el cierre del conducto arterioso permeable en prematuros

We report the case of three 26, 29 and 32 week-old newborns, with a birthweight of 810, 1,300 and 1,670 g respectively, who were clinically diagnosed with patent ductus arteriosus with hemodynamic repercussion. It was confirmed by means of a transthoracic echocardiogram that showed a ductus arteriosus of 1.5, 3.2 and 3.9 mm. Due to their unstable clinical condition, which contraindicated conventional pharmacological closure with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs) and posed a high surgical risk, it was decided to perform pharmacological closure with intravenous acetaminophen at 15 mg/kg, one dose every 6 hours. Echocardiographic control every 24 hours confirmed total closure of tha ductus arteriosus after 3, 5 and 7 treatment days respectively. Liver enzymes were analysed 24 hours before and 48 hours after administering acetaminophen. All of them had clinical and echocardiographic follow-ups after one, 3 and 6 months which ruled out any reopening of the ductus arteriosus.