Bronchopulmonary dysplasia in very low birth weight subjects and lung function in late adolescence.

Objectives: The purpose of this work was to determine the relationship between lung function in late adolescence and bronchopulmonary dysplasia, to establish whether lung function changed more from earlier in childhood in those with bronchopulmonary dysplasia, and to assess the effect of different definitions of bronchopulmonary dysplasia on respiratory outcome.

Methods: Subjects were composed of 147 survivors of birth weight <1500 g from the Royal Women's Hospital (Melbourne, Australia) born during 1977-1982 and who had lung function tests at a mean age of 18.9 years.