Mingsheng Zheng, Wenwei Ling, Jingyi Zhang, Rong Ju, Tiantian Xiao, Yiyong Fu, Biao Li, Yi Zheng, Jun Wang, Xiaofeng Zhou, Gaoyang Qin, Lingping Zhong, Ling Zhu, Youning Hu, Xiaolong Zhang, Zhengwei Ye, Huaying Li, Yang Liu, Nana Wu, Shuqiang Gao, Xuhong Hu, Yan Jiang, Xiaohong Luo
Chengdu Women’s and Children’s Central Hospital, School of Medicine and University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University.
China
Frontiers in Pediatrics
Front Pediatr 2026; 14:
DOI: 10.3389/fped.2026.1896889
Abstract
Objective: To investigate the value of developed the Neonatal Intensive Critical Ultrasound (NICUltra) Examination workflow in the management of neonatal acute pulmonary hypertension (aPH).
Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we assessed the effects of NICUltra-guided care on neonates with early aPH who underwent inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) therapy. The primary outcomes were the durations of iNO treatment and mechanical ventilation.
Results: Of the 77 enrolled neonates, 36 (46.7%) received NICUltra-guided care. Compared with non-NICUltra-guided patients, NICUltra-guided patients had significantly shorter durations of iNO treatment (P = 0.002) and mechanical ventilation (P = 0.003) and lower hospitalization costs, whereas no between-group differences were detected in mortality, the incidence of severe intraventricular hemorrhage, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy utilization.
Conclusion: Among neonates >32 weeks with early aPH receiving iNO treatment and without structural cardiopulmonary anomalies in a single-center retrospective study, the implementation of the NICUltra workflow is associated with significantly improved clinical efficacy and may be useful for optimizing clinical strategies with no observed differences in short-term outcomes.
Category
Class I. Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn
Diagnostic Testing for Pulmonary Vascular Disease. Non-invasive Testing
Age Focus: Pediatric Pulmonary Vascular Disease
Fresh or Filed Publication: Fresh (PHresh). Less than 1-2 years since publication
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