Bronchopulmonary dysplasia – a new perspective on prevention and treatment

Abstract

Introduction  

Premature birth is one of the most common problems in neonatal care and affects from 6 to 14% of pregnancies (frequency depends on geographical factors) [1].  Prematurity is the cause of almost half of deaths of children younger than 5 years old [3].  The most frequent and one of the most severe risks of preterm births is bronchopulmonary dysplasia (also called a chronic lung disease in some sources).  

Aim of the study 

 The aim of this study is to collect data on both new and traditional ways of prevention and treatment of chronic lung disease in a population of infants born preterm (<37 weeks of gestational age). 

Materials and methods 

The work was created based on the articles available in PubMed and Google Scholar databases and available scientific literature. Publications were searched in English and Polish  using the following keywords: bronchopulmonary dysplasia, chronic lung disease of the newborns, pulmonary hypertension in bronchopulmonary dysplasia, stem cells in bronchopulmonary dysplasia. 

Results

 Although bronchopulmonary dysplasia is a common problem among children born preterm, there is still a limited amount of possibilities of prevention and treatment of this condition. Despite efforts of scientists, many children with this condition suffer from both short-term and long-term consequences, such as frequent infections, asthma and impaired growth and neurodevelopment.   

Summary 

In the last twenty years the survival rate of children born preterm rapidly increased thank to the development of neonatal care. Up to 20% of children born with body weight less than 1500g will develop bronchopulmonary dysplasia. That is why there is a need for further research on the topic of bronchopulmonary dysplasia management, especially when it comes to biomarkers, use of mesenchymal stem cells and treatment of pulmonary hypertension.