Background: There is an increasing understanding that extreme preterm birth carries a risk of long-term pulmonary sequelae. A study was undertaken to investigate if, and in what way, neonatal factors were associated with subsequent abnormalities on pulmonary high-resolution CT (HRCT) scanning and if pulmonary function was related to these abnormalities. Methods: HRCT scanning and pulmonary function tests were performed less than 2 weeks apart in 74/86 eligible subjects (86%) born at a gestational age of (28 weeks or with a birth weight of (1000 g within a defined area in Western Norway in 1982-5 (n = 42) or 1991-2 (n = 32). Mean age at examination was 18 and 10 years, respectively. HRCT scans were interpreted by a paediatric radiologist blinded to the clinical data using a structured system allowing scores from 0 to 50. Results: Lung parenchymal abnormalities were found in 64 subjects (86%), the median (interquartile range) score being 3.0 (1.75-5.0) points. Prolonged neonatal requirement for oxygen treatment predicted poor outcome, and an increase of 100 days increased the average HRCT score by 3.8 points (p,0.001). There was also a positive association of the severity of pulmonary function abnormalities with the extent of HRCT abnormalities, exemplified by the relation between forced expiratory volume in 1 s and total HRCT score (b = 20.090; p,0.001). Conclusions: In area-based cohorts of long-term survivors of extremely preterm birth, prolonged neonatal requirements for oxygen treatment predicted subsequent structural abnormalities on HRCT scans and in pulmonary function, and these two outcome measures were interrelated.Over the past three decades the survival rates for extremely preterm neonates have increased significantly from ,10% to .80% in developed countries.1-3 Despite major advances in treatment, the reported incidence rates for bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) have remained largely unchanged, 4 and BPD is currently an important cause of chronic lung disease in children and young adults. [4][5][6] There is reason to believe that even subtle damage to the lung parenchyma in early life may be a precursor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in adulthood.7 Concerns about long-term outcome for subgroups of BPD survivors were raised as early as in 1990, 8 and have also been expressed in more recent studies.1 Large cohorts of these pioneer subjects are about to reach adulthood, allowing thorough assessment of long-term outcomes. In addition to prematurity as such, we still do not fully understand the association between different neonatal factors, events or treatment with pulmonary changes in later life.We have previously reported on airway abnormalities and pulmonary hyperinflation as well as high-resolution CT (HRCT) findings for two areabased birth cohorts of extremely preterm neonates followed for up to 20 years. [9][10][11] Although there is good evidence to suggest an association of prolonged neonatal oxygen requirements with decreased pulmonary function later in life, 6 11 12 sim...

OBJECTIVE: We conducted a blinded, randomized, controlled trial to examine whether mildly dysplastic but stable or instable hips would benefit from early treatment, as compared with watchful waiting. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 128 newborns with mild hip dysplasia (sonographic inclination angle [α angle] of 43°–49°) and stable or instable but not dislocatable hips were randomly assigned to receive either 6 weeks of abduction treatment (immediate-treatment group) or follow-up alone (active-sonographic-surveillance group). The main outcome measurement was the acetabular inclination angle, measured by radiograph, at 1 year of age. RESULTS: Both groups included 64 newborns, and there was no loss to follow-up. With the exception of a small but statistically significant excess of girls in the active-sonographic-surveillance group, there were no statistically significant differences in baseline characteristics between the 2 groups. The mean inclination angle at 12 months was 24.2° for both groups (difference: 0.1 [95% confidence interval (CI): −0.8 to 0.9]), and all children had improved and were without treatment. The mean α angle was 59.7° in the treatment group and 57.1° in the active-surveillance group for a difference of 2.6° evaluated after 1.5 and 3 months (95% CI: 1.8 to 3.4; P < .001). At 1.5 months of age, the hips had improved in all treated children but not in 5 children under active surveillance (P = .06). Among the sonographic-surveillance group, 47% received treatment after the initial surveillance period of 1.5 months. CONCLUSIONS: Active-sonographic-surveillance halved the number of children requiring treatment, did not increase the duration of treatment, and yielded similar results at 1-year follow-up. Given a reported prevalence of 1.3% for mildly dysplastic but stable hips, a strategy of active surveillance would reduce the overall treatment rate by 0.6%. Our results may have important implications for families as well as for health care costs.

High-resolution CT in young people of preterm birth revealed abnormal radiologic findings in 81.3% of the patients at age 10 years and 92.5% at age 18 years. Linear, triangular, and subpleural opacities were the most common. The reproducibility of the applied scoring system was acceptable.

LVCP is not uncommon in young adults exposed to PDA surgery as preterm infants. The condition may be overlooked easily, and symptoms may be confused with those of other diseases. Laryngoscopy should be offered on the basis of liberal indications after PDA ligation.

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