[Spontaneous neonatal arterial thrombosis treated with tissue plasminogen activator]

[Spontaneous neonatal arterial thrombosis: a report of 4 neonates]

Arterial thromboses are rare in newborns, mostly caused by arterial catheters. Neonatal arterial thrombosis occurring in other contexts is much rare. We report arterial thrombosis, not caused by catheterisation in 4 neonates hospitalised in the neonatology department of the Farhat Hached de Sousse hospital in Tunisia. The diagnosis of arterial thrombosis was made based on signs of ischemia in 2 patients affected by thrombosis of the iliac arteries. The symptoms were less clear: anuria associated with arterial high blood pressure in 1 patient affected by thrombosis of the abdominal aorta and by anuria with melena in a newborn with aortic and mesenteric thrombosis. Diagnosis was confirmed by Doppler sonography in 3 patients and based on autopsy data in 1 patient. A delay to consultation was noted in 3 patients, whose outcome was fatal. The progression was favourable after thrombolysis and anticoagulation using heparin in 1 patient with major aortic thrombosis. A review of the literature on the epidemiological, clinical, therapeutic and outcome data of the arterial thrombosis in the newborn child is provided.

Evaluation and treatment of thrombosis in the neonatal intensive care unit

Thromboses are infrequent but serious complications of patients in the NICU. Thromboses tend to occur in very sick neonates, particularly preterm neonates, and the majority of such thromboses are related to central vascular catheters. Other risk factors for neonatal thromboses include infants of diabetic mothers, sepsis, small for gestational age, congenital heart disease, maternal antiphospholipid syndrome, and possibly inherited prothrombotic disorders. Appropriate treatment, dosage, and duration of therapy for neonatal thromboses has not been studied in clinical trials. Treatment options include observation, anticoagulation, thrombolysis, and surgical thrombectomy. Regardless of the treatment chosen, all neonates with thromboses require frequent reassessment of the thromboses by angiography, echocardiography, or ultrasound until thrombus resolution occurs.