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- Many infants w/cyanotic heart disease only survive w/early surgical intervention
- The most rapid & effective first-line therapy for stabilization of the crashing neonate is IV prostaglandin E1 (PGE1)
- PGE1 serves to reopen the ductus arteriosus allowing partially desaturated systemic arterial blood to enter the pulmonary artery and be oxygenated
- The widespread use of this agent has profoundly decreased morbidity & mortality
- The initial dose of PGE1 is 0.1 mg/kg/min
- ADR for PGE1 include: apnea, hypotension, edema, and low grade fever
References
Flanagan MF, Taylor DC. "Cardiac Disease". In Avery GB, Fletcher MA, MacDonald MC, eds. Neonatology. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott. 1994:519.
Turley K. Intermediate results from the period of the Congenital Heart Surgeons Society Transposition Study 1985-1989. Ann Thorac Surg. 1995;60:505-510.