Relationship between blood pressure and blood flow in newborn preterm infants

Background:Arterial blood pressure remains the most frequently monitored indicator of neonatal circulatory status. However, studies of systemic perfusion in neonates have often shown only weakly positive associations with blood pressure.Objectives:To examine the relationship between invasively monitored arterial blood pressure and four measurements of systemic perfusion: left and right ventricular outputs, superior vena caval (SVC) flow and descending aortic (DAo) flow.Design:Echocardiographic assessments of perfusion were performed four times in the first 48 h of postnatal life in a cohort of 34 preterm (