In-hospital outcomes of late referrals for established bronchopulmonary dysplasia

Objective: To determine the in-hospital outcomes for patients with established bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) referred late for severe disease. Study design: Retrospective cohort study of patients with established BPD referred to our center after 36 weeks PMA. Result: Among 71 patients with BPD referred to our center after 36 weeks PMA between 2010 and 2018, the median PMA was 47 weeks (IQR, 42, 53) and the median respiratory severity score was 8.1 (IQR 4.5, 11.0) on admission. Survival in this cohort was 92%. Most survivors were discharged home without the need for positive pressure respiratory support (77%) or pulmonary vasodilators (89%). For survivors, we observed a significant improvement in median z-scores for length (−6.7 vs −3.3, p < 0.0001) between admission and discharge. Conclusion: Despite presenting relatively late with a high degree of illness severity, nearly all patients in this cohort survived to hospital discharge with improvement in comorbidities.