Text Box: INTESTINAL BLOOD FLOW IN VERY LOW BIRTH WEIGHT INFANTS WITH RESPIRATORY DISORDER NECESSITATING MECHANICAL VENTILATION Maruyama K, Koizumi T, Harigaya A, Shiojima K, Mayuzumi H Division of Neonatology, Gunma Children’s Medical Center, Gunma, Japan Objective: To investigate the effect of respiratory disorder on intestinal blood flow in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. Methods: We analyzed superior mesenteric artery (SMA) blood flow velocity measured by pulsed Doppler ultrasound at 3-4 hours after birth in 39 adequate for gestational age (AGA) VLBW infants (gestational age, 27.2±1.8 weeks; and birth weight, 1053±230 g). Results: At the ultrasound examination, nineteen infants had mechanical ventilation due to respiratory disorder (gestational age, 26.5±1.4 weeks; and birth weight, 979±195 g): seventeen infants were diagnosed as having respiratory distress syndrome; and two were diagnosed with transient tachypnea of the newborn. Seventeen of them had had surfactant therapy. Compared with 20 AGA VLBW infants without mechanical ventilation (gestational age, 27.9±1.8 weeks; and birth weight, 1123±243 g), the mechanically ventilated infants with the respiratory disorder had similar blood flow velocity, resistance index and relative vascular resistance in the SMA. Blood gas was analyzed at the examination in fourteen infants with mechanical ventilation: pH, 7.344±0.080; PaO2, 89.2±35.0 mmHg, PaCO2, 40.5±9.9 mmHg. In these infants with blood gas analysis at the examination, there was no significant correlation of SMA blood flow velocity with blood gas values and the setting of the ventilator. Conclusion: Respiratory disorder is not thought to affect intestinal blood flow in adequately managed VLBW infants soon after birth. 1210