Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a chronic lung condition that affects newborn babies who were either put on a breathing machine after birth or were born very early (prematurely).

BPD; Chronic lung disease - children; CLD - children

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) occurs in severely ill infants who have received high levels of oxygen for long periods of time or who have been on a breathing machine ( ventilator).

It is more common in infants born early (prematurely), whose lungs were not fully developed at birth.

Risk factors include:

• Congenital heart disease
• Prematurity, usually in infants born before 32 weeks of gestation
• Severe respiratory or lung infection
• Other severe illness in the newborn that needs to be treated with oxygen or a ventilator

The risk of severe BPD has decreased in recent years.

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Bronchopulmonary dysplasia Symptoms

Review Date: 04/16/2009
Reviewed By: David A. Kaufman, MD, Section Chief, Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, Bridgeport Hospital-Yale New Haven Health System, and Assistant Clinical Professor, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)