Development of a severity scale to assess chronic lung disease after extremely preterm birth.

Objective: Chronic lung disease of prematurity (CLDP) is a frequent complication of prematurity. We aimed to identify what clinicians believe are the most important factors determining the severity of CLDP in extremely preterm infants (<28 weeks gestational age) after discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) through 12 months corrected age (CA), and to evaluate how these factors should be weighted for scoring, to develop a CLDP severity scale.

Study Design: Clinicians completed a three-round online survey utilizing Delphi methodology.

A genome-wide association study identifies only two ancestry specific variants associated with spontaneous preterm birth.

Preterm birth (PTB), or the delivery prior to 37 weeks of gestation, is a significant cause of infant morbidity and mortality. Although twin studies estimate that maternal genetic contributions account for approximately 30% of the incidence of PTB, and other studies reported fetal gene polymorphism association, to date no consistent associations have been identified. In this study, we performed the largest reported genome-wide association study analysis on 1,349 cases of PTB and 12,595 ancestry-matched controls from the focusing on genomic fetal signals.

The genetic predisposition to bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Purpose Of Review: Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a prevalent chronic lung disease in premature infants. Twin studies have shown strong heritability underlying this disease; however, the genetic architecture of BPD remains unclear.

Recent Findings: A number of studies employed different approaches to characterize the genetic aberrations associated with BPD, including candidate gene studies, genome-wide association studies, exome sequencing, integrative omics analysis, and pathway analysis.

Maternal Asthma, Preterm Birth, and Risk of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia.

Objective: To study the relationship between maternal asthma and the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD).

Study Design: Using a large population-based California cohort, we investigated associations between maternal asthma and preterm birth subtype, as well as maternal asthma and BPD. We used data from 2007-2010 maternal delivery discharge records of 2 009 511 pregnancies and International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes.

Maternal characteristics and mid-pregnancy serum biomarkers as risk factors for subtypes of preterm birth.

Objective: To examine the relationship between maternal characteristics, serum biomarkers and preterm birth (PTB) by spontaneous and medically indicated subtypes.

Design: Population-based cohort.

Setting: California, United States of America.