A simple chest radiograph score to predict chronic lung disease in prematurely born infants

A simple scoring system has been evaluated with regard to its ability to ch aracterize the pre-term infant's chest radiograph appearance at 28 days and predict oxygen dependency beyond 36 weeks post-conceptional age (PCA). Che st radiographs taken at approximately 1 month of age in 42 infants (median gestational age 28 weeks) were assessed by the scoring system for the prese nce of fibrosis/interstitial shadows, cystic elements and degree of hyperin flation (maximum score 8). The system's results were then compared with tho se obtained using two previously published scoring systems. Using all three systems, there were significant differences in the scores of infants who w ere and were not oxygen dependent at 28 days (p<0.001) and 36 weeks PCA (p< 0.001). For the three systems, the positive predictive values of a score of 3 or mow to predict oxygen dependency at 36 weeks (PCA) were between 67% a nd 80% and similar receiver operating characteristic curves were obtained. We conclude that scoring only three abnormalities of the 28 day chest radio graph appearance of pre-term infants gives useful predictive information.