Moderate-Late Preterm Adolescents
Some studies showed no differences in spirometry between MLP adolescents
and full-term controls32,33, while others reported
poorer results in MLP adolescents34. Regarding lung
volumes, MLP children reportedly had higher RV and RV/TLC values than
full-term controls, although the values were within the normal
range35. Our study found that pulmonary function tests
were normal in most MLP adolescents, although around 12% showed
FEV1/FVC values below the LLN. Notably, although
impaired lung function is common in MLP infants early in
life36, lung function tends to improve over
time32,37.