Enlarged airspaces in the distal lung in adolescents born very preterm as measured by aerosol.

Rationale: Preterm infants diagnosed with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) are thought to have fewer and larger alveoli than their term peers, but it is unclear to what degree this persists later in life.

Objectives: To investigate to what degree the distal airspaces are enlarged in adolescents born preterm and to evaluate the new Airspace Dimension Assessment (AiDA) method in investigating this group.

Methods: We investigated 41 adolescents between 15 and 17 years of age, of whom 25 were born very preterm (a gestational age <31 weeks, with a mean of 26 weeks) and 16 were term-born controls.

Inflammatory imbalance in tracheal aspirate of very preterm newborns is associated with airway obstruction and lung function deficiencies at school age: a cohort study.

Objective: A low expression of club cell secretory protein (CC16) and high levels of proinflammatory cytokines at preterm birth are associated with airway inflammation and more severe neonatal lung disease. The present study aimed to investigate if low levels of CC16, proinflammatory cytokines and vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF) in tracheal aspirate early after birth were associated with lung function impairment at school age.

Patients And Methods: Participants were 20 children, born very preterm (median gestational age 25+3 weeks+days, IQR: 24+1-27+0 weeks+days), who had tracheal aspirates collected during mechanical ventilation in their first day of life.

Lung function deficits and bronchodilator responsiveness at 12 years of age in children born very preterm compared with controls born at term.

Introduction: Very preterm birth is associated with lung function impairment later in life, but several aspects have not been studied. We aimed to comprehensively assess lung function at school age in very preterm infants and term controls, with special emphasis on bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), sex, and bronchodilator response.

Methods: At 12 years of age, 136 children born very preterm (85 with and 51 without BPD) and 56 children born at term performed spirometry, body plethysmography, impulse oscillometry, measurement of diffusion capacity, and multiple breath washout, before and after bronchodilator inhalation.

Perinatal inflammation relates to early respiratory morbidity and lung function at 12 years of age in children born very preterm.

Aim: Very preterm birth may be associated with lung function impairment later in life. It is not known if this is caused by prematurity per se or by associated perinatal events, such as maternal-foetal inflammation and severity of early neonatal lung disease. We assessed these factors in a prospective cohort of very preterm infants followed from birth to middle school age.

Club cell secretory protein (CC16) in gastric fluid at birth and subsequent lung disease in preterm infants.

Background: Club cell secretory protein (CC16) probably has a role in protecting the lung from inflammation.

Aim: To evaluate if low levels of CC16 in gastric fluid at birth, reflecting low levels of CC16 in the lung, would be associated with lung inflammation and respiratory morbidity.

Methods: A study of 64 infants with mean gestational age 26.

Novel FOXF1 mutations in sporadic and familial cases of alveolar capillary dysplasia with misaligned pulmonary veins imply a role for its DNA binding domain.

Alveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of pulmonary veins (ACD/MPV) is a rare and lethal developmental disorder of the lung defined by a constellation of characteristic histopathological features. Nonpulmonary anomalies involving organs of gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and genitourinary systems have been identified in approximately 80% of patients with ACD/MPV. We have collected DNA and pathological samples from more than 90 infants with ACD/MPV and their family members.