Effect of digoxin in Neonates with Ventricular Septal Defect and Congestive Heart Failure using Tissue Velocity Imaging

  • Dr Jia-Kan Chang, Department of Pediatrics, Cheng-Hsin General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
  • Dr Kai-Sheng Hsieh, Department of Pediatrics, Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
  • Dr Po-Yen Liu, Department of Pediatrics, Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
  • Dr Chu-Chuan Lin, Department of Pediatrics, Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
  • Dr Da-Cheng Hwang, Department of Pediatrics, Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
  • Dr Ken-Pen Wong, Department of Pediatrics, Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

    • Background: Ventricular septal defect VSD is a congenital heart disease often cause congestive heart failure (CHF) in neonates or early infancy necessitating digoxin therapy. Therefore, we use new Doppler myocardial imaging to evaluate the effects of digoxin. Methods: The Doppler myocardial images were obtained from 8 infants with ventricular septal defect. Their ages were from 2 to 28 days mean 13.8 days. Doppler myocardial images were recorded before digoxin administration and after digitalization. All images were obtained with standard parasternal and apical views. From the extracted strain rate curves, peak values for systole, early diastole, and late diastole were calculated.
    Results: We summarize the effect of digoxin on neonates with VSD and CHF in the following table.Abbreviations: BS=basal septal, MS= mid septal, AS= apical septal, AL=apical lateral, ML=mid lateral, BL= basal lateral segments at apical 4 chamber view.Conclusion: Based on the objective, quantitative Doppler myocardial images, we found that digoxin did not show benefit for neonates with VSD and CHF.