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.