Lung diffusion
Previous studies in the pre-29,30 and post-surfactant
era18,22,24 have reported significantly lower values
of DLCO and KCO in EP children and
adolescents than in full-term controls. Similarly, we found that the
above parameters were lower in the EP adolescents with or without BPD
than in MLP adolescents. The reduction in diffusion capacity is probably
a consequence of the arrestĀ of lung development and reflects a decrease
in the surface area for gaseous exchange. Lung parenchymal injury and
vascular disease should lead to a more significant decline in diffusion
capacity in patients with BPD. However, as observed in our study,
diffusion capacity does not always differ between EP patients with and
without BPD18,24; in addition, changes in the
diffusion capacity tend to persist over time.31