[Evaluation of short term prognosis of bronchopulmonary dysplasia]

Assessing the short-term prognosis of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) (duration of mechanical ventilation, of O2 therapy, and risk of death) is often uncertain at the early stages of the disease. From a retrospective study of 124 cases of BPD, we made a search for factors of poor prognosis which could be recognized early. Among the 124 BPD, 56 (45%) had a severe disease (mechanical ventilation for greater than 3 months and/or O2 for greater than 4 months), and 24 of them (20%) died. Two types of factors have been identified as linked to a poor prognosis (risk of evolution towards a severe disease in a proportion of 70 to 90%): some respiratory events (refractory hypoxemia, recurrent pneumothorax, interstitial emphysema, no improvement of hyaline membrane disease at 3-4 days of life in babies less than 32 weeks gestational age) and hemodynamic failures (cardiac failure due to persistent ductus arteriosus, collapse following infection or anoxia). We have also defined different values of a ventilatory index (I = mean airway pressure x FiO2) which allows the neonatologists to estimate the final prognosis of BPD during the first two months of life.