Pulmonary vascular findings in preterm infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia and cor pulmonale – a quantitative morphological analysis

Introduction: In Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) the immature lung is damaged by ventilatory injury and oxygen toxicity, leading to severe fibrosis and to an arrest in alveolarisation in the lung of these infants. Chronic cor pulmonale is one of the leading causes of death in these patients. In the human little is known, whether an – out of proportion – reduction in peripheral pulmonary vascularisation would explain for the severe cor pulmonale observed in these patients. Patients and Methods: Autopsy study performed at the Dept. of Paed. Pathology of the Charité Berlin (1990–1993) on 5 preterm infants; 27 (26–…