Patent Ductus Arteriosus

Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a condition in which a blood vessel called the ductus arteriosus fails to close normally in an infant soon after birth. (The word "patent" means open.)
The condition leads to abnormal blood flow between the aorta and pulmonary artery, two major blood vessels surrounding the heart.

Yesterday Elias began taking indomethacin, a medicine to help close the PDA. He will receive 3 doses every 12 hours. He also received another platelet transfusion. We were told his platelet count was on the low side of normal and with the administering of the indomethacin they wanted to elevate that count. There is a slight risk of bleeding or hemmoraging associated with this drug, so they will be watching him closely.

The prelim results for the Upper GI looked good, but we will not know the official results until later today. They have been weening his vent settings down and hope to take him off the ventilator today or tomorrow, we will see.

Hopefully we will have more progress to update later today.