PROGNOSTIC VALUE OF CLINICAL AND RADIOLOGICAL STATUS ON DAY 28 OF LIFE FOR SUBSEQUENT COURSE IN VERY-LOW-BIRTH-WEIGHT (LESS-THAN 1,500G) BABIES WITH BRONCHOPULMONARY DYSPLASIA

To test the hypothesis that the short-term (approximately 6 months) co urse of babies with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) could be predicte d from the clinical and radiological status on day 28 of life, we retr ospectively examined the medical records of 79 infants born between 19 85 and 1988 who required supplemental oxygen and/or ventilatory suppor t on day 28. Chest roentgenographs taken close to day 28 (+/- 7 days) were scored on a scale of 0-10. Four babies died from causes not relat ed to BPD. Four of the remaining 75 died from BPD, and the rest are al ive. Forty-six of 71 were weaned from supplementary oxygen by 37 weeks corrected gestational age, and only 13/71 remained on supplemental ox ygen after 40 weeks gestational age. To determine which variables cont ributed most to the outcome, defined as total days on supplemental oxy gen, a multiple regression analysis was performed, including only thos e variables the tolerance of which exceeded 0.7 (sex, Fi(O2), ventilat ory mode, and infectious status). Fi(O2) and ventilatory mode together predicted 15% of the variability in outcome, so that a high Fi(O2) an d ventilator dependence on day 28 of life were highly correlated with a prolonged need for supplemental oxygen (F = 4.28, P < 0.05).