[Effect of perinatal inflammation syndrome on lung maturation and development].

Despite improvement in neonatal care, the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia has not decreased over the last decade. Moreover, chronic lung disease still occurs in very premature infants who do not require ventilatory support at birth. This review presents the growing body of epidemiological, experimental and clinical evidence suggesting that the occurrence of an inflammatory reaction triggered in utero or immediately after birth is associated with the subsequent development of chronic lung disease. However, stimulators of inflammation or specific proinflammatory cytokines may also have beneficial on lung maturation. How proinflammatory mediators interfere with lung maturation and alveolarization needs to be better understood in order to pave the way for new immunomodulatory strategies to prevent chronic lung disease in very preterm infants.