Cerebral oxygen saturation during the first 72h after birth in infants diagnosed prenatally with congenital heart disease.

Background: Evidence suggests that hypoxic-ischemic brain injury in infants with congenital heart disease already occurs during early life. The aim of our study was, therefore, to assess the course of regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO) and fractional tissue oxygen extraction (FTOE) during the first 72h after birth in infants with prenatally diagnosed duct-dependent congenital heart disease. In addition, we identified clinical parameters that were associated with rSO.