Pulmonary vascular development,diagnosis and treatment for pulmonary hypertension in preterm in-fants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia / 中国小儿急救医学

ABSTRACT

It is well known that pulmonary hypertension(PH) is one severe complication of bron-chopulmonary dysplasia( BPD) that is associated with high mortality. Aberrant pulmonary vascular growth, abnormal vasoreactivity and pulmonary vascular remodeling may ultimately lead to PH. Symptoms of PH of-ten overlap those of BPD itself. Furthermore,the emergence of symptoms may indicate that the disease has already progressed to a late, less reversible phase, thereby supporting arguments for screening all infants at risk. Echocardiography is non-invasive and widely available,and is currently the most commonly used screen-ing modality for PH in infants with BPD. Because the incidence of associated cardiovascular anomalies is high,cardiac catheterization and CT scanning of the chest should be considered in all infants who have signifi-cant PH despite optimal management of their lung disease. Early diagnosis and aggressive specific drug thera-py can improve the outcome for these patients.