Physiologic assessment of lung growth and development throughout infancy and childhood

Several lung function tests may be used for the physiologic assessment of lung growth and development throughout infancy and childhood. Optimal lung function tests for monitoring cystic fibrosis, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, and recurrent wheezing in children less than 6 years of age have been recently reported, and studies where infant and preschool lung function has been applied in these specific respiratory disorders have been reviewed. Normal reference ranges for older subjects, including into adulthood, have also been reported.

When interpreting physiologic measures of lung growth and development throughout infancy and childhood, it is important to be aware of the influence of growth and maturity, the influence of demographic factors such as sex and ethnicity, the normal intra- and interindividual variability of the parameters at each age, and the diagnostic value of each of the parameters obtained in each test.

Very preterm (< 32 weeks gestational age) or very low birth weight (<1500 g birth weight) survivors, particularly those who had bronchopulmonary dysplasia in the newborn period, have more lung function abnormalities, particularly airway obstruction, than do term-born survivors and are at high risk of adult obstructive lung disease as they grow older.