Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Feb;60(2):e27501.
doi: 10.1002/ppul.27501.

Risk Factors Associated With the Development of Late Pulmonary Artery Hypertension in Extremely Premature Infants

Paige E Condit  1 , John S Hokanson  2 , Vivek Balasubramaniam  3 , David J McCulley  4 , Michael Lasarev  5 , Luke Lamers  2 , Ryan M McAdams  1 , Dinushan C Kaluarachchi  1
Affiliations

Risk Factors Associated With the Development of Late Pulmonary Artery Hypertension in Extremely Premature Infants

Paige E Condit et al. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2025 Feb.

Abstract

Objective: To identify risk factors for late pulmonary artery hypertension (PH) at 36 weeks' postmenstrual age (PMA) in infants born before 28 weeks' gestation.

Design/methods: A retrospective cohort study included infants born < 28 weeks' gestation who underwent PH screening echocardiography at 36 weeks' PMA. We compared characteristics between infants with and without late PH to determine associations.

Results: Of 99 infants, 20 (20%) developed late PH. The FiO2% requirement at 4 weeks of age, home oxygen use, and procedural patent ductus arteriosus closure were associated with late PH. Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) severity was linearly associated with late PH, with each 1-point increase in BPD severity corresponding to a 3.5-fold increased odds of late PH diagnosis.

Conclusion(s): One in five extremely premature infants developed late PH. Markers of respiratory disease severity, including the BPD grade, were associated with the development of late PH.

Keywords: bronchopulmonary dysplasia; extreme prematurity; pulmonary hypertension.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

D.K. serves as a consultant for ONY Biotech. The remaining authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Relationship between odds of developing late pulmonary hypertension and BPD grade.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Jensen E. A., Edwards E. M., Greenberg L. T., Soll R. F., Ehret D. E. Y., and Horbar J. D., “Severity of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia Among Very Preterm Infants in the United States,” Pediatrics 148, no. 1 (2021): e2020030007. - PMC - PubMed
    1. An H. S., Bae E. J., Kim G. B., et al., “Pulmonary Hypertension in Preterm Infants With Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia,” Korean Circulation Journal 40, no. 3 (2010): 131–136. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Baker C. D., Abman S. H., and Mourani P. M., “Pulmonary Hypertension in Preterm Infants With Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia,” Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonology 27, no. 1 (2014): 8–16. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bhat R., Salas A. A., Foster C., Carlo W. A., and Ambalavanan N., “Prospective Analysis of Pulmonary Hypertension in Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants,” Pediatrics 129, no. 3 (2012): e682–e689. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mourani P. M., Sontag M. K., Younoszai A., et al., “Early Pulmonary Vascular Disease in Preterm Infants at Risk for Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia,” American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine 191, no. 1 (2015): 87–95. - PMC - PubMed