Events & Meetings | November 16th, 2022

ERS webinar on Respiratory sequelae of preterm birth across the life span on 29 November 2022

Preterm birth is a live birth that occurs before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy. Every year, approximately 15 million (11 % of global birth) babies are born preterm worldwide, and over 2 million of these births are very preterm (<32 weeks gestation). Long-term sequelae are common in survivors of very preterm birth. Such sequelae affect the lungs particularly, causing morbidity over the entire life course. Understanding lung function trajectories for survivors of preterm birth is critical because low lung function at birth and early childhood is independently associated with premature development of chronic lung disease, and is a significant predictor of all-cause mortality. 

Therefore, the topic of pulmonary sequelae of preterm birth could have important clinical consequences and raises several questions and challenges that need to be addressed to identify potential opportunities for prevention and early intervention to promote respiratory health for survivors of preterm birth.

Educational aims
After participating in this webinar, participants will be able to know about:

• Lung disease of prematurity;
• Management of neonatal lung disease in the neonatal intensive care unit;
• The trajectory of lung function and lung health for survivors of preterm birth across the lifespan;
• Contribution of gene–environment interactions in the premature development of chronic lung disease in survivors of preterm birth.

Topics

• Epidemiology of chronic lung disease of prematurity and burden of disease;
• The trajectory of lung function in survivors in childhood, adolescence; and adulthood;
• The GETomics approach: the understanding of the dynamic interactions between genes (G) and the environment (E) over time (T).