Correlation between early postnatal body weight changes and lung ultrasound scores as predictors of bronchopulmonary dysplasia in preterm infants: A secondary analysis of a prospective study.

UNLABELLED: Recent research links early weight changes (EWC) with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in preterm neonates, while lung ultrasound score (LUS) has shown promise in predicting BPD. We aimed to explore the correlation between LUS and EWC as markers of extravascular lung edema and to investigate the correlation between LUS and EWC in preterm infants with respiratory distress syndrome regarding future BPD development. This secondary analysis of a prospective study involved infants ≤ 28 weeks gestation. Enrolled infants underwent lung ultrasound assessment on postnatal days 3, 7 and 14, measuring LUS. EWC was computed on the same time points. Infants were classified as either having BPD or not. Descriptive statistics, correlation coefficient, and area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve analysis were utilized. Of 132 infants, 70 (53%) had BPD. Univariate analysis revealed statistically significant differences in LUS and EWC at days 3, 7, and 14 between BPD and no-BPD groups (p < 0.001). A statistically significant but weak positive correlation existed between LUS and EWC (r0.37, r0.29, r0.24, and p < 0.01) at postnatal days 3, 7, and 14, respectively. AUROC analysis indicated LUS having superior predictive capacity for the need for invasive mechanical ventilation at day 14 as well as the later BPD development compared to EWC (p < 0.0001).

CONCLUSION: In a cohort of extreme preterm infants, our study revealed a positive yet weak correlation between LUS and EWC, suggesting that EWC was not the major contributing to the evolving chronic lung disease.

WHAT IS KNOWN: • Recent evidence links Early Weight-Changes with bronchopulmonary dysplasia in preterm neonates. • Lung ultrasound score has shown promise in early prediction of the subsequent development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia in preterm infants. No studies have examined the correlation between Early Weight-Changes and Lung ultrasound score in preterm infants during first 2 weeks after birth.

WHAT IS NEW: • Our study demonstrated a positive and statistically significant correlation between early LUS and EWC, indicating their potential role as early predictors for the subsequent development of BPD in extreme preterm infants. • The weak correlation between the two parameters may stem from the possible restricted influence of EWC, given that it may not be the primary factor contributing to the evolving chronic lung disease.