Abstract:

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics and treatment of pulmonary vein stenosis (PVS) in extremely premature infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Methods The clinical characteristics of PVS in two extremely premature infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia were retrospectively analyzed and the related literatures were reviewed. Results The two infants were both small for gestational age and the gestational age was 30⁺¹ weeks and 28⁺² weeks, respectively. They were diagnosed with bronchopulmonary dysplasia with pulmonary hypertension. Case 1 had left PVS at 4 months and 20 days after birth, and he died after ineffective drug treatment. Case 2 had left PVS at 3 months after birth, and right upper PVS was found at 5 months and 15 days after birth. She received pulmonary vein balloon dilation therapy and pulmonary hypertension improved. More than a month after discharge, PVS relapsed and she received PVS correction operation. However, pulmonary vein turned stenosis again, the parents gave up further treatment and she died later. Conclusions Echocardiography should be performed in extremely premature infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia and pulmonary hypertension, and pulmonary vein need to be evaluated carefully. When vasodilator drug treatment is ineffective, intervention or surgical operation could be considered. However, the overall mortality rate is high.

Key words: extremely premature infant, pulmonary vein stenosis, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, pulmonary hypertension