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Spectrum of chronic lung disease in a population of newborns with extremely low gestational age
Acta Pediatrica, 06/21/2012
Hjalmarson O et al. – Difficulty in oxygenation was a general observation in extremely low gestational age (ELGANs), and not only a particular subset. Gestational age and Apgar score were independent predictors of the degree of difficulty over the first month of life. As oxygenation failure often developed after a few days, the process may be possible to treat or prevent once the pathogenesis is known.
Methods- A prospective, population-based cohort study was undertaken in one tertiary-care centre.
- The alveolar-arterial oxygen pressure difference (AaDO2) was monitored.
- Of 41 survivors, 21 had a period of normal lung function in the first week of life, after which oxygenation deteriorated.
- Low gestational age and low Apgar score at 5 min were found to be strong and independent predictors of AaDO2 in the first month of life.
