Respiratory Outcomes for Ventilator-Dependent Children With Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia.

OBJECTIVES: To describe outpatient respiratory outcomes and center-level variability among children with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) who require tracheostomy and long-term mechanical ventilation. METHODS: Retrospective cohort of subjects with severe BPD, born between 2016 and 2021, who received tracheostomy and were discharged on home ventilator support from 12 tertiary care centers participating in the BPD Collaborative Outpatient Registry. Timing of key respiratory events including time to tracheostomy placement, initial hospital discharge, first outpatient clinic visit, liberation from the ventilator, and decannulation were assessed using Kaplan-Meier analysis. Differences between centers for the timing of events were assessed via log-rank tests. RESULTS: There were 155 patients who met inclusion criteria. Median age at the time of the study was 32 months. The median age of tracheostomy placement was 5 months (48 weeks' postmenstrual age). The median ages of hospital discharge and first respiratory clinic visit were 10 months and 11 months of age, respectively. During the study period, 64% of the subjects were liberated from the ventilator at a median age of 27 months and 32% were decannulated at a median age of 49 months. The median ages for all key events differed significantly by center (P ≤ .001 for all events). CONCLUSIONS: There is wide variability in the outpatient respiratory outcomes of ventilator-dependent infants and children with severe BPD. Further studies are needed to identify the factors that contribute to variability in practice among the different BPD outpatient centers, which may include inpatient practices.

Validation of an outpatient questionnaire for bronchopulmonary dysplasia control.

INTRODUCTION: Despite bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) being a common morbidity of preterm birth, there is no validated objective tool to assess outpatient respiratory symptom control for clinical and research purposes. METHODS: Data were obtained from 1049 preterm infants and children seen in outpatient BPD clinics of 13 US tertiary care centers from 2018 to 2022. A new standardized instrument was modified from an asthma control test questionnaire and administered at the time of clinic visits. External measures of acute care use were also collected. The questionnaire for BPD control was validated in the entire population and selected subgroups using standard methodology for internal reliability, construct validity, and discriminative properties. RESULTS: Based on the scores from BPD control questionnaire, the majority of caregivers (86.2%) felt their child's symptoms were under control, which did not differ by BPD severity (p = 0.30) or a history of pulmonary hypertension (p = 0.42). Across the entire population and selected subgroups, the BPD control questionnaire was internally reliable, suggestive of construct validity (albeit correlation coefficients were -0.2 to -0.4.), and discriminated control well. Control categories (controlled, partially controlled, and uncontrolled) were also predictive of sick visits, emergency department visits, and hospital readmissions. CONCLUSION: Our study provides a tool for assessing respiratory control in children with BPD for clinical care and research studies. Further work is needed to identify modifiable predictors of disease control and link scores from the BPD control questionnaire to other measures of respiratory health such as lung function testing.

Management of diuretics in infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia discharged on home oxygen.

BACKGROUND: Infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) are often prescribed diuretics before the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) discharge. It is unknown whether outpatient medication weaning strategies affect the duration of home oxygen therapy. METHODS: This was a secondary cohort analysis of infants born <32 weeks gestational age with BPD from 2015 to 2018 discharged from our NICU or regional NICUs, referred to our pulmonary clinic for home oxygen management. We compared three groups: those discharged with no diuretics, diuretics actively weaned (dose decreased), and diuretics passively weaned (dose not adjusted). RESULTS: Out of 125 infants, 116 were included in the analysis. Forty-five infants were discharged without diuretics, 52 infants were discharged with diuretics that were actively weaned, and 19 infants were discharged with diuretics that were passively weaned. Infants who were passively weaned spent the most time on home oxygen (median 28 weeks, interquartile range [IQR] 16-52; p = 0.011); there were no differences in home oxygen duration in infants actively weaned (median 13 weeks, IQR 10-26) versus not on diuretics (median 22 weeks, IQR 12-30, p = 0.285). Multivariable adjustment for other illness characteristics associated with the duration of home oxygen did not change this finding. CONCLUSIONS: Active weaning of diuretics did not prolong the duration of home oxygen, in the setting of a standardized clinical guideline for weaning home oxygen in infants with BPD. These data can serve as baseline information to implement and test standardized strategies for outpatient medication management.

Using a home oxygen weaning protocol and pCO2 to evaluate outcomes for infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia discharged on home oxygen.

BACKGROUND: Predischarge capillary blood gas partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2 ) has been associated with increased adverse events including readmission. This study aimed to determine if predischarge pCO2 or 36-week pCO2 was associated with increased respiratory readmissions or other pulmonary healthcare utilization in the year after neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) discharge for infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) discharged with home oxygen, using a standardized outpatient oxygen weaning protocol. METHODS: This was a secondary cohort analysis of infants born <32 weeks gestational age with BPD, referred to our clinic for home oxygen therapy from either from our level IV NICU or local level III NICUs between 2015 and 2017. Infants with major nonrespiratory comorbidities were excluded. Subject information was obtained from electronic health records. RESULTS: Of 125 infants, 120 had complete 1-year follow-up. Twenty-three percent of infants experienced a respiratory readmission after NICU discharge. There was no significant association between predischarge or 36-week pCO2 and respiratory readmissions, emergency room visits, new or increased bronchodilators, or diuretics. Higher 36-week pCO2 was associated with a later corrected age when oxygen was discontinued (<6 months; median, 54 mmHg; interquartile range [IQR], 51-61; 6-11 months; median, 62 mmHg; IQR, 57-65; ≥12 months, median, 66 mmHg; IQR, 58-73; p = .006). CONCLUSIONS: Neither predischarge pCO2 nor 36-week pCO2 was associated with 1-year respiratory readmissions. However higher pCO2 at 36 weeks was associated with a longer duration of home oxygen. Neonatal illness measures like 36-week pCO2 may be useful in communicating expectations for home oxygen therapy to families.