Maternal preeclampsia predicts the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

OBJECTIVE

To test the hypothesis that exposure to preeclampsia is associated with an increased risk of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD).

METHODS

A prospective cohort study of 107 babies born between 23 and 32 weeks gestation, collecting maternal, neonatal, and placental data.

RESULTS

Of the 107 infants studied, 27 (25%) developed BPD. The bivariate odds ratio (OR) for the relationship between pre-eclampsia and BPD was 2.96 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.17 to 7.51; P = .01). When controlling for gestational age, birth weight z-score, chorioamnionitis, and other clinical confounders, the OR of developing BPD was 18.7 (95% CI = 2.44 to 144.76). Including the occurrence of preeclampsia, clinical chorioamnionitis, male sex, and maternal tobacco use in addition to gestational age and birth weight z-score accounted for 54% of the variability of the odds of developing BPD.

CONCLUSIONS

BPD is increased for infants exposed to preeclampsia. This has possible implications for the prevention of BPD with proangiogenic agents, such as vascular endothelial growth factor.