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Despite a high burden of respiratory disease among infants globally, limited options exist for lung function testing in this age group. Tidal breathing techniques such as oscillometry allow for understanding the pathophysiology of diseases that originate early in life, thus providing the opportunity to develop timely prevention and treatment strategies.
Many survivors of preterm birth (<37 weeks gestation) have lifelong respiratory deficits, the drivers of which remain unknown. Influencers of pathophysiological outcomes are often detectable at the gene level and pinpointing these differences can help guide targeted research and interventions. This study provides the first transcriptomic analysis of primary nasal airway epithelial cells in survivors of preterm birth at approximately 1 year of age.
André Schultz MBChB, PhD, FRACP Head, BREATH Team Head, BREATH Team Prof André Schultz is the Head, BREATH Team at The Kids Research Institute
Limited evidence suggests that airway epithelial structure and function is disrupted in very preterm infants; however, the epithelial morphology and physiology has not been well characterised following discharge from neonatal intensive care. This study aimed to characterise the nasal airway epithelium from 1-year-old survivors of very preterm birth.
Preterm birth is associated with lifelong respiratory sequelae, yet our understanding of lung function trajectories across the lifespan remains limited. We aimed to identify patterns of spirometry development from childhood to early adulthood in survivors of very preterm birth using novel data-driven methods.
Citation: Evans DJ, D Sly PD, Foster P, Donovan C. Who gets asthma, and why? Med J Aust. 2025;223(S10):S19-S23. Keywords: Asthma; Lung diseases;
Early life is a key period that determines long-term health. Lung development in childhood predicts lung function attained in adulthood and morbidity and mortality across the life course. We aimed to assess the effect of early-life lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) and associated risk factors on lung development from birth to school age in a South African birth cohort.
To evaluate the suitability of the Global Lung Function Initiative (GLI)-2012 other/mixed and GLI-2022 global reference equations for evaluating the respiratory capacity of First Nations Australians.
One of the most traumatic injuries a child can experience is a severe burn. Despite improvements in medical treatments which have led to better physical outcomes and reduced mortality rates for paediatric burns patients, the psychological impact associated with experiencing such a traumatic injury has mostly been overlooked. This is concerning given the high incidence of psychopathology amongst paediatric burn survivors.
There is no published information on preterm children's activities and participation during middle childhood, a time when growth and development are characterised by increasing motor, reasoning, self-regulation, social and executive functioning skills. This study explored the health, activities and participation of children born very preterm during middle childhood (6-9 years) from the perspectives of their parents.