Bronchodilator responsiveness and dysanapsis in bronchopulmonary dysplasia

What is it about?

The incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is increasing, and bronchodilators are widely used to treat BPD patients with little evidence to guide therapy. Pulmonary function testing identifies BPD patients with obstruction but little is known regarding PFT parameters associated with bronchodilator responsiveness. We found that 63% of BPD patients studied were responsive to bronchodilators and that there were parameters measurable on lung function testing that correlated with bronchodilator responsiveness. Responders had evidence of greater dysanaptic lung growth than did non-responders, suggesting that responders had relatively smaller airways compared to lung size than did non-responders.

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