Certain clinical and paraclinical markers of sepsis-induced myocardial dysfunction in newborn

The problem of neonatal sepsis continues to be one of the leading places in neonatal practice. The issues of early diagnostics of cardiovascular disorders in neonates with sepsis by means of up-to-date methods of examination remain relevant. They can be used as screening methods with the purpose to verify possible development of cardiovascular dysfunction. Purpose — to study the meaning of certain clinical and paraclinical markers of myocardial dysfunction in neonates with sepsis. Materials and methods. In order to realize the objective we have observed 69 neonates with signs of generalized infectious-inflammatory process. Group I (32 patients — 46,4%) included neonates with the term of gestation 37–42 weeks, group II included 37 preterm neonates (53,6%) with the term of gestation under 36 week inclusive. Results. It was found that in mothers who gave birth prematurely, compared to mothers of newborns of group I, premature rupture of membranes occurred more often, but 1.5 times less often — indications of infectious diseases of the genitourinary system of the pregnant woman. Generalized infectious-inflammatory process during the neonatal period of term infants is accompanied by electrocardiographic signs of left ventricular overload associated with female sex (r=0,30), delivery by cesarean section (r=0,27), and assessment of neonatal condition by a 5=minute Apgar score (r=-0,33). Conclusions. Increased values of lactate dehydrogenase activity in the blood serum of both term and preterm neonates are associated with left ventricular over-load in the term ones, and right ventricular overload in the preterm infants. Changes found in electrophysiological heart activity promote the necessity of a routine use of electrocardiography in neonates with signs of septic process. The research was carried out in accordance with the principles of the Helsinki declaration. The study protocol was approved by the Local Ethics Committee of all participating institution. The informed consent of the patient was obtained for conducting the studies. No conflict of interest was declared by the authors. Key words: neonatal sepsis; myocardial dysfunction.