ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Pediatr.

Sec. Pediatric Critical Care

Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1570519

Functional echocardiography identifies association between early ventricular dysfunction and outcome in pediatric sepsis

Provisionally accepted
Sonia Violeta RevecoSonia Violeta Reveco1,2Stella Inti BarbagelataStella Inti Barbagelata1,3*Pablo CrucesPablo Cruces2,4FRANCO DIAZFRANCO DIAZ2,5Karla YohanessenKarla Yohanessen6Marcos LarraínMarcos Larraín2Mario GuerraMario Guerra2Alexander BataszewAlexander Bataszew6,7
  • 1Hospital San Juan de Dios, Santiago, Chile
  • 2Hospital El Carmen de Maipú, Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan Region (RM), Chile
  • 3Clinic Dávila, Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan Region (RM), Chile
  • 4Andres Bello University, Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan Region (RM), Chile
  • 5Finis Terrae University, Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan Region (RM), Chile
  • 6University of Chile, Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan Region (RM), Chile
  • 7Hospital de Niños Dr. Roberto del Río, Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan Region (RM), Chile

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Objective: This feasibility study aimed to describe the relation between ventricular dysfunction and outcome in pediatric sepsis.Intensive Care Units (PICU). We enrolled 51 patients aged younger than 15 year-old diagnosed with sepsis or septic shock. Functional echocardiography was performed by a pediatric intensivist within the first 24 h of admission and blind validated by a pediatric cardiologist. Ventricular dysfunction was defined by the presence of left or right systolic and/or diastolic dysfunction. The absence of these findings was considered normal ventricular function.Outcome was assessed by septic shock diagnosis rate, pediatric adaptation of Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (pSOFA), cardiovascular component of pSOFA, PICU-free and ventilatorfree days.Results: 29 patients had sepsis, and 22 had septic shock. The main sites of infection were pulmonary (58.8%) and abdominal (17.6%). One out of four had ventricular dysfunction, and this group presented higher frequency of septic shock (69.2% vs. 34.2%, p=0.028), higher frequency of total pSOFA >3 at 24 h (92% vs 64%, p=0.04), cardiovascular component of pSOFA (69.2% vs 31.2%, p=0.017), and fewer PICU-free days (18 [0-23] vs. 23 [18-25], p=0.027), compared to normal ventricular function group. Additionally, there were more abnormal tissue doppler measurements, lower s´ wave Z-Score (

Keywords: Sepsis, septic shock, Echocardiography, Children, Hemodynamics, Monitoring

Received: 03 Feb 2025; Accepted: 14 May 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Reveco, Barbagelata, Cruces, DIAZ, Yohanessen, Larraín, Guerra and Bataszew. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Stella Inti Barbagelata, Hospital San Juan de Dios, Santiago, Chile

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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