Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia in Low-Birth-Weight Infants Bronchopulmonary dysplasia most often occurs in low-birth-weight infants. Factors other than surfactant deficiency may be important determinants. Van Marter and associates studied antecedents of bronchopulmonary dysplasia in 223 infants in a prospective, randomized clinical trial of phenobarbital prophylaxis for intracranial hemorrhage.
Seventy-six infants with radiographic evidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia who required oxygen were compared to 147 healthy low-birth-weight infants. Compared with the control group, the infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia had received greater quantities of intravenous fluid during the first foour days of life. In addition, the study infants generally showed a net weight gain during the first four days of life, in contrast to a weight loss in the control infants. Finally, the infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia were more likely to have patent ductus arteriosus and to have received furosemide on days 3 and 4 of life.
The authors believe that excessive fluid therapy during the early postnatal period may be important in the pathogenesis of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Continued attention to early postnatal medical care is appropriate in the search to reduce the occurrence of this disorder. (Journal of Pediatrics, June 1990, vol. 116, p. 942.)
COPYRIGHT 1990 American Academy of Family Physicians
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group
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