Spectrum of clinical and cardiac dysfunction in bronchopulmonary dysplasia: early prediction of long-term morbidity.

OBJECTIVES

The objective of this study was to correlate the severity of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in infants < or = 28 weeks' gestation with clinical and radiologic scoring and cardiac function as measured by echocardiography.

STUDY DESIGN

Twenty-five infants with a mean birth weight of 909 gm and gestational age 26 weeks were studied. All infants were categorized with a clinical and radiologic scoring system at 1 and 3 months. All infants were studied with two-dimensional, M-mode, and Doppler echocardiography.

RESULTS

A significant correlation was found between clinical and radiologic scores at 1 month (r = 0.42) and between radiologic scorings at 1 and 3 months (r = 0.67). Severe BPD is directly related with mean airway pressure on day 7 of life (p < 0.05), use of intralipids (p < 0.05), and average oxygen exposure (p < 0.05). Left ventricular posterior wall thickness is directly correlated to severity of BPD (p < 0.05), and transmitral flow velocities and early diastolic/atrial contraction flow velocity ratio are inversely related to severity of BPD (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Severe BPD can be predicted at an early age, and certain subtle cardiac dysfunctions can be used as early markers of BPD.