Neonatal chylothorax and ultrasound: Diagnosis, measurements, and correlations with management

Table 1 Basic population details

Parameter	Median (interquartile range) or n (%)
Gestational age (weeks)	34.7 (32.5-37.4)
Birth weight (g)	2650 (2470-3105)
Male	5 (50)
Gestational age < 37 weeks	7 (70)
Gestational age ≤ 32 weeks	2 (20)
Prenatal diagnosis	8 (80)
Vaginal delivery	2 (20)
Apgar 1’	5 (4-6)
Apgar 5’	7 (6-8)
Delivery room intubation	7 (70)
Ascites	4 (40)
Bilateral pleural effusion	7 (70)

Table 2 Management and outcomes

Parameter	Median (interquartile range) or n (%)
Thoracentesis	5 (50)
Pleural drainage placement	7 (70)
Duration (days)	15 (11-21)
Octreotide	5 (50)
Octreotide, start day	18 (14-20)
Octreotide, stop day	50 (39-85)
Duration (days)	29 (24-35)
Octreotide, start dose (μg/kg/hour)	2 (1-4)
Octreotide, highest dose (μg/kg/hour)	12 (9-17)
Parenteral nutrition (days)	27 (11-42)
Start enteral nutrition (days)	18 (8-27)
Start breast milk (days)	38 (33-45)
Recurrence	1 (10)
Survival	9 (90)

Table 3 Reliability of ultrasound measurements for the need of chest tube drainage, 95%CI

	Lung-chest wall distance (cm)	Lung-diaphragm distance (cm)	Derived area (cm2)
Cut-off value	0.8	1.2	0.72
Sensitivity (%)	71.4 (35-92)	100 (59-100)	100 (59-100)
Specificity (%)	100 (90-100)	81.8 (67.7-90.7)	93.2 (81-98)
PPV (%)	100	46.7	70
NPV (%)	95.7	100	100
LR+	> 15.00	5.50	14.60
LR-	0.28	0.00	0.00
Accuracy	0.96	0.84	0.94

PPV: Positive predictive value; NPV: Negative predictive value.