Lung function in extremely preterm born adults over three decades

Abstract

Introduction: Perinatal medicine has changed considerably since the 1980s. Although survival has improved for infants born extremely preterm (EP), they still suffer from significant morbidity. Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is one of the most common complications, leading to compromised lung function in early adulthood. Aims: To adress pulmonary outcome at 18 years of age in EP born cohorts born in different decades; with changing neonatal treatment and survival. Methods: Three population-based birth-cohorts of subjects born at gestational age ≤ 28 weeks or with birth weight ≤ 1000 grams in 1982-85, 1991-92 and 1999-2000 and individually matched term-born control subjects performed spirometry at approximately 18 years of age. We used independent samples t-tests to compare EP born to term born and one-way Anova to test if lung function differed between the three cohorts, split by BPD. Results: FEV1 z-scores were lower in EP born compared to term born in all three cohorts, p Conclusion: Survivors of EP birth had lower lung function than term born controls at 18 years. Pulmonary outcome in EP born with BPD improved over thre decades.