Preterm birth, bronchopulmonary dysplasia associated with reduced exercise capacity in adulthood

Adults who were born prematurely and have bronchopulmonary dysplasia had significantly greater reductions in exercise-induced expiratory flow limitations compared with control participants, according to study results.Andrew T. Lovering, PhD, of the department of human physiology at the University of Oregon, and colleagues collected data from 2009 to 2014 on 55 participants aged 18 to 31 years. They sought to determine if adult survivors of preterm birth with and without bronchopulmonary dysplasia with reduced exercise capacity demonstrated respiratory limitations at near-maximal exercise compared with full-term controls.