Long-term respiratory outcomes of post-op congenital lung malformations.

Background: Congenital lung malformations (CLM) are rare disorders and surgical intervention is the definitive treatment. Our aim is to evaluate the long-term lung function of patients with CLM after surgery compared to healthy children.

Methods: Sixteen children with CLM (M/F: 9/7) and 30 age-matched, healthy controls (M/F: 13/17) were included in the study. Demographic data were recorded and both groups were compared by spirometry and the nitrogen-based Lung Clearance Index (LCI).

Results: Mean ± SD age of the patients was 12.0 ± 5.4 years. The mean forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV ), forced vital capacity (FVC), FEV /FVC, and forced expiratory flow between 25% and 75% of force expiration (FEF ) predicted was, 86.68 ± 16.65, 88.00 ± 14.58, 97.44 ± 9.89, and 79.00 ± 26.41, respectively in the patient group. Patients with CLM had significantly lower values in FEV , FVC, FEF than healthy controls (P = 0.002, P 0.007, P 0.045). While the mean LCI value in patients' group was 8.33 ± 1.52, it was 7.28 ± 0.80 in healthy controls (P = 0.023). Strong inverse correlation between LCI and FEV , FEV /FVC was detected in the patient group (P = 0.023; r: -0.581, P 0.017; r: -0.606 respectively).

Conclusion: This study revealed that, in long-term follow-up, patients who had surgery because of CLM have impairment in the pulmonary function compared to healthy children and LCI may be more accurate in detecting airway diseases early than spirometry.