• Maryam Saeedi, Razieh Sangsari, Kayvan Mirnia, and Monireh Ghanbari.
• Children's Medical Center, Pediatric Center of Excellence, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
• Arch Iran Med. 2024 Nov 1; 27 (11): 606610606-610.

BackgroundPerfusion index is a dependable indicator for assessing the perfusion status of newborns. A low perfusion index indicates compromised hemodynamic function. The study aims to investigate perfusion index in asymptomatic newborns aged 35 to 41 weeks who did not require medical support.MethodsHealthy neonates born in four major maternity hospitals of Tehran University from 2019 to 2021 were selected. To ensure consistency and reliability in data collection, a detailed manual was developed and distributed, along with comprehensive training sessions for all personnel involved.ResultsA total of 994 newborns entered the study. Among them, echocardiography was adversely affected in 218 neonates due to abnormal screening pulse oximetry. Of these 218 neonates, 53 were found to have abnormal echocardiography results. The median perfusion index value in healthy neonates was 1.6%, and the median oxygen saturation was 97%. A percentile perfusion index curve was developed for healthy neonates to establish a normal reference range.ConclusionDeveloping a percentile perfusion index curve specific to healthy neonates provides a useful reference range for healthcare providers to assess perfusion status in this population, but further research is needed to confirm its accuracy.© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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