Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) may be associated with increased morbidity in premature infants. Diagnosis and treatment of hemodynamically significant ductus arteriosus is important. In this study, we investigated the predictive role of carina angle on chest X-ray in the diagnosis of PDA. Twenty-two premature infants with gestational age of less than 32 weeks were enrolled into this study during the period from October 2009 to June 2010 at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Başkent University Hospital. We compared the carina angle of 10 patients who had hemodynamically significant PDA with 12 patients who had no PDA. Carina angle measurement was repeated after PDA treatment. The hemodynamically significant PDA group had a significantly wider carina angle (94.6±6.0º) compared to the no ductus group (81.1±9.1º; p<0.05). The predictive role of carina angle in the diagnosis of PDA was assessed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (area under the curve (AUC)=0.096; p=0.001). The cut-off value of carina angle was 91º, with a sensitivity of 83% and specificity of 80%. We observed significant reduction in the carina angle measurement after the treatment (p=0.001). Measurement of carina angle is a quite simple and effective method of assessing PDA. Carina angle may provide information about PDA when echocardiography cannot be done for the diagnosis.

Keywords: patent duktus arteriozus, prematüre bebek, karina açısı.