Long-term follow-up of cardiorespiratory outcomes in children born extremely preterm: Recommendations from a Canadian consensus workshop

Abstract

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia, the most common pulmonary complication of extremely preterm (EPT) birth, has longstanding multiorgan repercussions, with increasing reports of emphysema and cardiac disease in early adulthood. There are currently no clear recommendations pertaining to best practices for optimal multidisciplinary cardiorespiratory follow-up of EPT children. We report the outcomes of a 2-day consensus workshop involving a Canadian panel of 31 multidisciplinary experts with the goal of improvement and standardization of the cardiopulmonary follow-up care of EPT infants (i.e., born at <28 weeks’ gestation), from neonatal discharge to mid childhood. The most relevant and important clinical outcomes to evaluate were identified. Practical aspects of integrating cardiopulmonary follow-up into ambulatory care clinics were explored. This article summarizes the discussions from this workshop and provides the panel’s recommendations for clinical follow-up and research priorities.