RESULTS
Fifty-one infants were enrolled, 28 in the diuretic group and 23 in the
control group. The groups were similar for gestational age,
post-conceptional age at enrollment, use of caffeine and prenatal
steroids and gender, and had similar incidences of chorioamnionitis,
small for gestational age birth weight, and patent ductus arteriosus
(Table 1). Mean corrected gestational age when diuretics were started
was 34.2 (33.3-35.9) weeks in the diuretic group and 34.0 (33.4-36.3) in
the control group. We performed 306 LUS scans. An aggregate of 51
minutes of recorded LUS video clips was analyzed by neonatology fellows
trained in LUS (GK, FF) and a neonatology attending experienced in LUS
(DK). Interobserver (GK, DK) and intraobserver (DK) variability scores
were obtained. Interobserver Gwet’s AC2 and Brennan-Prediger Kappa
coefficients were 0.98 and 0.98 respectively. Intraobserver Gwet’s AC2
and Brennan-Prediger Kappa coefficients were 0.97 and 0.97 respectively.
These scores indicate very high levels of agreement.
PES scores and FiO2 decreased significantly from day 0 to 6
(p <.0001 and p =0.001, respectively) in the study
group, but not in the control group (Figures 2 and 3). PES was
significantly different between the groups on both day 3 (p =0.02)
and on day 6 (p =0.001). FiO2 was significantly different between
the groups on day 3 (p =0.017) but not on day 6 (p =0.52).
Compared to the control group, the diuretic group had significantly
greater wean of the respiratory flow support from day 0 to day 6
(p=0.01 ) (Figure 4).