Prematurity & the Cardiovascular System
In very preterm babies, the first-day danger is low blood flow, not low blood pressure. Here’s how the immature heart, the duct and the brain interact.
Neonatal Haemodynamics
Defining Neonatal Hypotension
Mean BP below gestation, under 30 mmHg or a low centile? None of these numbers predicts outcome. Confirm poor perfusion before you treat a reading.
Milrinone in Hypotensive Newborn
Milrinone, the inodilator: strengthens the heart and unloads it at once. Where it shines (post-ligation syndrome, pulmonary hypertension) — and where it fails and harms.
Dopamine in Hypotensive Newborn
Dopamine is the NICU’s default inotrope — reliable at raising blood pressure, but with no proven outcome benefit. Its dose ladder, hidden costs and the “renal-dose” myth.
Dobutamine in Hypotensive Newborn
Dobutamine treats the pump, not the pressure gauge — the neonatal inotrope for myocardial dysfunction and high afterload. Why it improves flow even when it doesn’t lift blood pressure.
Hydrocortisone in Hypotensive Newborn
Hydrocortisone is the rescue for catecholamine-resistant neonatal hypotension — when adrenal insufficiency, not the heart or vessels, is the problem. Indications, dosing and the one interaction that matters.
Epinephrine and Norepinephrine in the Hypotensive Newborn
Epinephrine or norepinephrine in the hypotensive newborn? A clinician’s guide to choosing by the lesion — the failing pump versus the dilated circulation — with the doses, risks and evidence.
Volume Expansion in the Hypotensive Newborn
Neonatal Haemodynamics Evidence Review The reflex first move for low blood pressure — yet in the preterm infant, hypotension is