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Bronchopulmonary dysplasia - Overview

Alternative Names

BPD; Chronic lung disease - children; CLD - children

Definition of Bronchopulmonary dysplasia:

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a chronic lung condition that affects newborn babies who were either put on a breathing machine after birth or were born very early (prematurely).

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) occurs in severely ill infants who have received high levels of oxygen for long periods of time or who have been on a breathing machine (ventilator).

It is more common in infants born early (prematurely), whose lungs were not fully developed at birth.

Risk factors include:

Congenital heart disease
Prematurity, usually in infants born before 32 weeks gestation
Severe respiratory or lung infection

The risk of severe BPD has decreased in recent years.

Reviewed last on: 6/10/2011
David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; and Denis Hadjiliadis, MD, Assistant Proessor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Cowie RL, Murray J, Becklake MR. Disorders of the intrathoracic airways. In: Mason RJ, Broaddus VC, Martin TR, et al, eds. Murray and Nadel's Textbook of Respiratory Medicine. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2010:chap 44.

Dudell GG, Stoll BJ. Respiratory tract disorders. In: Kliegman RM, Behrman RE, Jenson HB, Stanton BF, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 18th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007:chap 101.

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