PERINATAL STRATEGIES TO PREVENT THE DEVELOPMENT OF BRONCHOPULMONARY DYSPLASIA

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) remains one of the lasting challenges of modern neonatal care. Despite considerable advances in survival, a significant proportion of premature infants continue to develop BPD. BPD-survivors have diminished lung function and lifelong respiratory symptoms. Preventative treatment is required, as once established no effective therapy exists. Insufficient understanding of the pathophysiology of modern BPD hampers the establishment of new therapy. Human lung function and structure data is scarce and animal studies that mimic modern BPD are limited. Appropriate animal models incorporating prematurity with modern ventilation techniques, such as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), are required to advance the understanding of the pathophysiology of modern BPD. Improved understanding of this pathophysiology will help guide the identification and development of new therapies to prevent and treat BPD. Promising therapies include a variety of prenatal treatments and postnatal strategies to minimize lung injury. Of the current postnatal therapies, CPAP and intrapulmonary steroids are the leading candidates to limit the development of BPD. However, little is known of the structural and functional effects of either therapy on the immature lung. Due to the difficulty of clinical research in acutely ill premature infants appropriate animal models are required to provide further structural and functional data.

Jaar van publicatie:2020

Toegankelijkheid:Embargoed