Newly developed method looks to detect effects of BPD in premature infants

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A recent study out of Germany has researched a new method to identify the early signs of cardiovascular disease in premature infants who have chronic lung disease. The peer-reviewed paper, published in the European Respiratory Journal, cites bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) as the leading type of chronic lung disease in newborns, primary those born prematurely. Consequently, BPD has the potential to produce long-lasting complications, including additional pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases, as the infants grow.

When babies are born premature, they often require treatment to help them breathe. However, research has found that prolonged use of oxygen and medical ventilation can lead to further damage that affects their lung development. Newborns who are diagnosed with BPD are at an increased risk of pulmonary vascular disease (PVD), which is a condition that affects the blood vessels that carry oxygen to and from the lungs. 

Physician scientist Anne Hilgendorff, MD, observed the difficulty of diagnosing PVD, especially in infants, due to the lack of appropriate tools available to detect early symptoms. This causes many who have PVD to develop pulmonary hypertension (PH), a critical and potentially fatal complication, later in life. 

Dr. Hilgendorff led the study along with a team of researchers from Helmholtz Munich and the LMU University Hospital and scientists from Leiden University. She presented a new approach that uses noninvasive tools to detect early indicators of cardiovascular pathology, which can help prevent PH in formerly premature infants. 

Specifically, the method applies a specialized cardio-pulmonary magnetic resonance imaging protocol. The advanced MRI techniques assess a baby’s heart and lungs without the use of sedation, making the procedure low risk. 

Researchers applied the method to premature infants, some of whom had BPD and some who did not, and documented blood flow through the pulmonary arterial to identify alterations or changes in cardiac function. Based on the results, the team was able to create a statistical algorithm to help detect the early signs of PVD. 

This breakthrough creates new possibilities to stratify risk and lower the chance of future cardiac events. The study’s findings suggest using the newly developed MRI diagnostic strategy to create categories for premature infants that assess the varying risk levels of PVD and subsequent PH. 

 

Future studies are required to monitor the detected early signs of pulmonary and cardiovascular disease in premature infants into their childhood and adulthood in order to adequately evaluate risk-adapted monitoring and BPD treatment approaches. 

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