Hello and welcome to the Zero to Finals podcast.

My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be talking to you about chronic lung disease of prematureity.

And if you want to follow along with written notes on this topic, you can follow along at 0.0.com slash CLD

or in the respiratory section of the zero definals pediatrics book.

So let's get straight into it.

Chronic lung disease of prematurity, or CLDP, is also known as broncopulmonary dysplasia.

It occurs in premature babies, typically those born before 28 weeks of gestation,

and these babies suffer with respiratory distress syndrome and require oxygen and therapy

or intubation and ventilation at birth. A diagnosis of chronic lung disease of

prematurity is made based on chest x-ray changes and when the infant

requires oxygen therapy after 36 weeks gestational age. So what are the features? Low oxygen

saturations, increased work of breathing, poor feeding and weight gain, crackles and wheezes on chest excultation,

and increased susceptibility to infections, particularly respiratory tract infections.

How can we prevent chronic lung disease of prematureity?

Well, there are several measures that can be taken to minimize the risk of CLDP.

These include giving corticosteroids, particularly beta-metazone,

to the mother that shows signs of premature labour at less than 36-week gestation,

and this can speed up the development of the fetal lungs before birth

and reduce the risk of chronic lung disease of prematurely.

Once the neonate is born, the risk of CLDP can be reduced by using CPAP rather than intubation

and ventilation where possible, using caffeine to stimulate the respiratory effort, and not

over-oxygenating with supplementary oxygen.

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