The capability of chest computed tomography in the diagnosis of bronchopulmonary dysplasia outcomes in premature infants
Purpose of the study was to establish clinical and radiological features of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) outcomes in children. Materials and methods. A prospective follow-up study of 132 premature infants with infant respiratory distress syndrome (IRDS) was analyzed. BPD was developed in 66 cases. At a late childhood, clinical and radiological outcomes of the transferred conditions were diagnosed on the basis of anamnesis, clinical examination, and results of chest computed tomography (CT). Results. Clinical recovery was observed significantly more frequently in the outcome of IRDS without BPD development (69.6% versus 31.8% in the case of BPD development). In patients with BPD in the anamnesis, the odds ratio of asthma developed in the late childhood was 5.304 times higher than in children who had IRDS. The majority (62 cases, 93.9%) of children who had IRDS did not have structural changes in lung tissue according to CT (p = 0.000), 21 (31.8%) children with BPD had abnormal CT. In BPD, typical radiological findings were hypoattenuated lung areas (p = 0.020) and areas of pulmonary fibrosis (p = 0.016). Conclusion. Chest CT could be assigned to the patients with BPD in the anamnesis to assess lung tissue structural changes and diagnose outcomes of the disease.