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The air that we breathe: repsiratory morbidity in children with congenital pulmonary malformations
- Publication date
- 15 June 2012
- Publisher
- Intensive care for children is one of the areas of medicine that have significantly matured in
the past decades. New treatment modalities have been introduced, such as high frequency
oscillation (HFO), inhaled nitric oxide (NO), and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
(ECMO), and minimally invasive surgery is an example of improvement in surgical
techniques. These new modalities have reduced mortality rates, but sometimes at the cost
of more morbidity. Not only the underlying disease itself, but also side effects of the
treatment can cause morbidity. Aspects of short-term and long-term morbidity have
therefore become a focus of attention. Congenital anomalies that include abnormal lung
development requiring neonatal intensive care treatment can result in pulmonary function
impairment. These long-term pulmonary sequelae can be assessed by lung function
measurement. Longitudinal evaluation of lung function can help identify infants and
children at risk for respiratory impairment and elucidate the long-term consequences of
congenital lung anomalies.