Resistive indices of cerebral arteries in very preterm infants: values throughout stay in the neonatal intensive care unit and impact of patent ductus arteriosus.

Background: Little is known about cerebral artery resistive index values in infants born extremely preterm.

Objective: To report resistive index values in various cerebral arteries in a prospective cohort of preterm infants born at <29 weeks' gestation, and to compare resistive index in these arteries and assess the relationship between resistive index and hemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus.

Materials And Methods: Using Doppler imaging, we obtained resistive index values of internal carotid arteries, basilar artery, anterior cerebral artery, and pial and striatal arteries in the first 3 days of age and weekly thereafter until discharge or death.