Multisite Tissue Oxygenation Monitoring Indicates Organ-Specific Flow Distribution and Oxygen Delivery Related to Low Cardiac Output in Preterm Infants With Clinical Sepsis.

OBJECTIVES: Cardiac output may be compromised in preterm infants with sepsis. Whether low cardiac output is associated with low tissue oxygen supply in these patients is unclear. The aim of the current study was to assess the association between cardiac output, assessed by echocardiography, and tissue oxygenation, measured with multisite near-infrared spectroscopy, in a cohort of preterm infants with clinical sepsis.

DESIGN: Prospective observational cohort study.

SETTING: Level III neonatal ICU.

PATIENTS: Twenty-four preterm infants (gestational age < 32 wk) with clinical sepsis.

INTERVENTIONS: None.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Clinical and echocardiographic assessment of hemodynamics was performed within 48 hours of sepsis workup and repeated at least 24 hours later. We measured cerebral, renal, and intestinal tissue oxygen saturation using near-infrared spectroscopy during an hour of stable measurements directly preceding or following echocardiography and calculated fractional tissue oxygen extraction in each tissue. We determined Spearman correlation coefficients between fractional tissue oxygen extraction and right ventricular output corrected for patent foramen ovale flow, left ventricular output corrected for ductus arteriosus flow, and superior vena cava flow. Right ventricular output corrected for patent foramen ovale and left ventricular output corrected for ductus arteriosus flow both correlated significantly with intestinal fractional tissue oxygen extraction (ρ, -0.700; p = 0.036 and ρ, -0.604; p = 0.029, respectively). In contrast, no significant correlations were found between cardiac output measurements and cerebral and renal fractional tissue oxygen extraction, respectively. Changes in cardiac output measurements were not associated with observed changes in fractional tissue oxygen extraction values.

CONCLUSIONS: Right ventricular output corrected for patent foramen ovale and left ventricular output corrected for ductus arteriosus flow, indicators of systemic blood flow in preterm infants with shunts, were negatively associated with intestinal fractional tissue oxygen extraction, but not with renal and cerebral fractional tissue oxygen extraction. These findings suggest that during low output states due to clinical sepsis intestinal perfusion is most at risk.