Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD)
National Organization for Rare Disorders, Inc.
It is possible that the main title of the report Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) is not the name you expected.
Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a chronic respiratory disease that most often occurs in low-weight or premature infants who have received supplemental oxygen or have spent long periods of time on a breathing machine (mechanical ventilation), such as infants who have acute respiratory distress syndrome. BPD can also occur in older infants who experience abnormal lung development or some infants that have had an infection before birth (antenatal infection) or placental abnormalities (such as preeclampsia). Antenatal steroid treatment prior to preterm birth and early treatment with surfactant have reduced the need for high levels of respiratory support after birth.
Affected infants may have rapid, labored breathing and bluish discoloration of the skin due to low levels of oxygen in the blood (cyanosis). Infants are not born with BPD, the condition results from damage to the lungs. Although most infants fully recover from BPD, some subjects have sustained abnormalities of lung function and structure throughout adolescence and into adulthood. However, the condition can cause serious complications during infancy and often requires hospitalization and intensive medical care, especially during the first 2 years after birth.
The survival of low birth weight infants has improved steadily over the past few decades. Many infants diagnosed with BPD today are born at far earlier gestational ages than in the past. Researchers believe that these cases of BPD are less associated with injury and repair to the lungs and more likely represent an underlying disruption or abnormality affecting the development of the lungs. These infants may require chronic oxygen supplementation even without developing acute respiratory distress syndrome. These cases are sometimes referred to as "new" BPD.
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For a Complete Report
This is an abstract of a report from the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD). For a full-text version of this report, go to www.rarediseases.org and click on Rare Disease Database under "Rare Disease Information".
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Last Updated: 4/28/2015
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