Outpatient clinical care for bronchopulmonary dysplasia: A survey of the BPD collaborative.

Abstract

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia, a sequela of preterm birth, is the most common chronic respiratory disorder in infancy, and the second most common in children. Despite this, clinical care remains highly variable with guidelines supported by limited evidence, and do not provide specific guidance for timing of clinical follow-up, echocardiography, modalities of pulmonary function testing, etc. OBJECTIVE/METHODS: To further our understanding of care delivery for BPD, we sought to describe outpatient care patterns at tertiary care centers through survey data from 27 well-established BPD programs. We observed variability in referral patterns to outpatient BPD clinics, ancillary services provided, indications for follow-up echocardiograms, availability of lung function testing, and criteria for discharge from care. More comprehensive and detailed clinical guidelines similar to other pulmonary diseases such as asthma and cystic fibrosis should be developed to help standardize care and may improve long term outcomes.