Vasopressin in newborns with refractory acute pulmonary hypertension

Background Acute pulmonary hypertension (aPH) in newborns can be life threatening and challenging to manage. In newborns with refractory aPH, there is currently limited therapeutic agents. Methods Retrospective single-center cohort study in newborns less than one month old who were treated with vasopressin for a minimum of one hour in the context of refractory aPH in the neonatal and pediatric intensive care units of a tertiary university center between 2016 and 2022. The objective was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of vasopressin in newborns as an adjuvant treatment for refractory aPH. Results Twenty-five patients met inclusion criteria. In patients who received vasopressin, oxygenation index improved from 28.4 to 14.4 ( p = 0.004) after twelve hours of continuous infusion. Oxygen requirements (FiO 2 ) decreased from 0.91 to 0.50 ( p = 0.004) and mean arterial pressure increased from 41 to 51 mmHg ( p = 0.001). In our cohort, 68% of patients presented an episode of hyponatremia (serum sodium