The respiratory consequences of preterm birth: from infancy to adulthood.

Survival of preterm-born infants, especially at extremes of prematurity (less than 28 weeks gestation), is now common, particularly in the developed world. Despite advances in neonatal care, short-term respiratory morbidity, termed bronchopulmonary dysplasia (also called chronic lung disease of prematurity), remains an important clinical outcome. As survival during the neonatal period has improved, preterm-born individuals are now entering childhood, adolescence and adulthood in far greater numbers, and adverse longer-term respiratory outcomes following birth at an immature stage of lung development are becoming increasingly apparent.