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Growth Rate of Lung Function in Healthy Preterm Infants

¹ Department of Pediatrics, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil; ² Department of Pediatrics, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil; ³ James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children, Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana

Correspondence and requests for reprints should be addressed to Marcus Herbert Jones, M.D., Ph.D., Av. Ipiranga 6690, Instituto de Pesquisas Biomédicas–PUCRS, Porto Alegre, Brazil CEP 90610-000. E-mail: mhjones{at}pucrs.br

Rationale: It remains unclear whether premature birth, in the absence of neonatal respiratory disease, results in abnormal growth and development of the lung. We previously reported that a group of healthy infants born at 32–34 weeks' gestation and without respiratory complications had decreased forced expiratory flows and normal forced vital capacities at 2 months of age.

Objectives: Our current study evaluated whether these healthy infants born prematurely exhibited improvement or "catch-up" in their lung function during the second year of life.

Methods: Longitudinal measurements of forced expiratory flows by the raised volume rapid thoracic compression technique were obtained in the first and the second years of life for infants born prematurely at 32.7 (range, 30–34) weeks' gestation (n = 26) and infants born at full term (n = 24).

Measurements and Main Results: Healthy infants born prematurely demonstrate decreased forced expiratory flows and normal forced vital capacities in the first and second years of life. In addition, the increases in lung function with growth were similar to full-term infants.

Conclusions: Persistently reduced flows in the presence of normal forced vital capacity and the absence of catch-up growth in airway function suggest that premature birth is associated with altered lung development.

Key Words: lung growth • spirometry

AT A GLANCE COMMENTARY Scientific Knowledge on the Subject It remains unclear whether premature birth, in the absence of neonatal respiratory disease, results in abnormal growth and development of the lung. What This Study Adds to the Field Persistently reduced flows in the presence of normal forced vital capacity and the absence of catch-up growth in airway function suggest that premature birth is associated with altered lung development.

 

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