Abstract
Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a non-invasive, radiation-free tool to monitor regional changes in ventilation. This report describes, for the first time, that unilateral atelectasis in an extremely low birth weight infant results in a loss of regional ventilation measured by EIT in the affected lung.
Conclusion: EIT is currently the most promising technique to monitor regional lung aeration continuously at the bedside in this vulnerable population.
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Abbreviations
- CXR:
-
Chest X-ray
- EIT:
-
Electrical impedance tomography
- fEIT:
-
Functional electrical impedance tomography
- nCPAP:
-
Nasal continuous positive airway pressure
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Ethical statement
This study has been approved by the institutional review board and has therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards as described in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. Both parents of both infants have given their informed consent prior to inclusion in the study.
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None of the authors have financial relationships to disclose.
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Communicated by Patrick Van Reempts
This work was financially supported by Chiesi Pharmaceutical.
The EIT device was kindly provided by CareFusion.
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van der Burg, P.S., Miedema, M., de Jongh, F.H. et al. Unilateral atelectasis in a preterm infant monitored with electrical impedance tomography: a case report. Eur J Pediatr 173, 1715–1717 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-014-2399-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-014-2399-y