REHOSPITALIZATION AND GROWTH OF INFANTS WITH BRONCHOPULMONARY DYSPLASIA - A MATCHED CONTROL STUDY

Objective: To determine the risk of hospitalization and the growth du ring the first year of life in infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and birthweight matched controls. Methodology: The study popula tion consists of 78 infants of 26 to 33 weeks gestation with BPD of wh om 20 were discharged on home oxygen therapy. The 78 control infants w ere matched with the study infants for broad based birthweight categor ies. Infants were reviewed at 4, 8 and 12 months corrected for prematu rity at which time the history of rehospitalization was recorded and g rowth parameters were measured. Results: Infants with BPD were found t o have a higher overall rate of rehospitalization (58 vs 35%, relative risk (RR) 1.7, 95% confidence interval (Cl) 1.2-2.4) and were more li kely to be readmitted for respiratory illnesses (39 vs 20%, RR 1.9, 95 % Cl 1.1-3.2) and for poor growth (14 vs 1%, RR 14, 95% Cl 1.7-82) tha n the control group. Many infants, both study and control, remained be low the 10th percentile at 1 year of age. More BPD infants were below the 10th percentile in weight at the 4 month visit than the control in fants (30 vs 15%, P = 0.034). This difference was neither present at s ubsequent visits nor in the other major growth parameters. The 20 BPD infants who were on home oxygen therapy were more frequently hospitali zed for concerns with failure to thrive (30 vs 9%, RR 3.3, 95% Cl 1.2- 8.9) than the remaining 58 BPD infants. No significant differences wer e detected in the overall rate of rehospitalization. Poor growth at th e corrected age of 1 year was similar in the two subgroups of infants. Conclusions: BPD infants are at increased for risk rehospitalization during the first year of life. While many infants with BPD have growth failure, it is suggested that the provision of appropriate supplement al oxygen at home may result in those infants having similar growth pa tterns when compared to birthweight matched preterm infants without BP D.