The study was designed to assess whether chest shielding during phototherapy reduces the incidence of PDA, as assessed by serial echocardiographic examinations, in a population of extremely preterm infants born at lower 30 week gestation.

Phototherapy is a therapeutic intervention frequently used for management of neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia in extremely premature infants, especially in the first week when patency of the ductus is a clinical problem. Phototherapy has also been implicated in increased ductal patency. One randomized, controlled trial showed that chest shielding during phototherapy reduced the incidence and severity of PDA by 50% in preterm infants. These findings were mainly based on clinical evaluation of the ductus with echocardiographic studies performed only on a subgroup of infants noted to have a murmur on clinical examination.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Gestational week ≤ 30 weeks receiving phototherapy due to jaundice and infants who can perform echocardiography before and after treatment will be included in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Babies with congenital heart disease.
• Infants with major structural anomalies and infants who can not undergo echocardiography before or after treatment.