Premature infants, particularly born before 30 weeks gestation who have been given a diagnosis of chronic lung disease, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, or post-prematurity respiratory disease face significant challenges in transition from the NICU environment to life at home. The lack of guidelines to help focus care and quality medical literature differentiating outcomes is stark. Parents and physicians need tools to care for these high risk infants. These new ATS guidelines nicely evaluate the role of inhaled medications, swallowing assessment, airway endoscopy, and especially sleep testing and provide timely recommendations.
Outpatient Respiratory Management of Infants, Children, and Adolescents with Post-Prematurity Respiratory Disease: An Official American Thoracic Society Clinical Practice Guideline
New recommendations are available to help guide physicians who must determine when and how to treat infants, children and adolescents with post-prematurity respiratory disease (PPRD). The American Thoracic Society has published an official clinical practice guideline in which a multidisciplinary panel of experts provide 13 conditional recommendations on the diagnostic testing and clinical management of these young people. The complete guideline detailing these recommendations was posted online ahead of print in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Worldwide, approximately 12 million infants—10 percent of live births—are born prematurely and are at risk for respiratory disease, the most common of which is bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). However, all premature infants, even those who do not meet the criteria for having BPD, may develop poor respiratory health later in life with signs and symptoms including cough, recurrent wheezing, exercise intolerance, low blood oxygen (hypoxemia) and reduced pulmonary function. These individuals are classified as having PPRD.
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