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Updated: Jul 4, 2026

Development of a Neonatal Piglet Acute Lung Injury Model Recreating the Early Environment of Preterm Infant Lungs
Published on: October 31, 2025
Below median birth weight in appropriate-for-gestational-age preterm infants as a risk factor for bronchopulmonary
Gabriele Kewitz1, Stefan Wudel, Hartmut Hopp
1Perinatal Center, CBF, Charité-University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany. gabi.kewitz@gmx.net
Aims:
To assess the presence of chorioamnionitis and intrauterine growth as prenatal risk factors for broncho pulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA) infants of <28 weeks' gestation.
Methods:
Gender, race, birth weight, gestational age, histology of the placenta, diagnosis of BPD at 36 weeks' gestation, postnatal dexamethasone treatment, and death were recorded in 150 preterm infants born at <28 weeks' gestation, and admitted between 1996 and 2001.
Results:
In 122 AGA infants (mean gestational age: 26.18 weeks, mean birth weight: 837 g), BPD was associated with gestational age-related birth weights below the 50(th) centile. Intrauterine growth deceleration started between 25 and 26 weeks' gestation. Chorioamnionitis was not related to BPD.
Conclusions:
AGA infants of 26-28 weeks' gestation with birth weights below the median showed an increased risk of developing BPD.
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