Acute oliguria in preterm infants with hyaline membrane disease: interaction of dopamine and furosemide.

Ten premature infants with hyaline membrane disease and with acute oliguria were treated with furosemide or furosemide and dopamine. Furosemide alone did not increase diuresis. Furosemide when combined with dopamine, however, caused significant increases in urine output, sodium excretion, fractional sodium excretion and creatinine clearance. These data suggest that the increase in the sodium excretion was due not only to a reduction in the tubular sodium reabsorption but also to an increase in the glomerular filtration rate. Since in premature neonates the creatinine clearance is not a very precise index of the glomerular filtration rate, the extent of contribution of the increase in the glomerular filtration rate to the enhanced sodium excretion cannot be determined. Despite the increase in the sodium excretion, the serum sodium concentration did not fall significantly. We conclude that the combined treatment with dopamine and furosemide is useful for treating furosemide-resistant, severe functional renal failure in preterm infants with hyaline membrane disease.