The air that we breathe: repsiratory morbidity in children with congenital pulmonary malformations

Intensive care for children is one of the areas of medicine that have significantly matured in the past decades. New treatment modalities have been introduced, such as high frequency oscillation (HFO), inhaled nitric oxide (NO), and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), and minimally invasive surgery is an example of improvement in surgical techniques. These new modalities have reduced mortality rates, but sometimes at the cost of more morbidity. Not only the underlying disease itself, but also side effects of the treatment can cause morbidity. Aspects of short-term and long-term morbidity have therefore become a focus of attention. Congenital anomalies that include abnormal lung development requiring neonatal intensive care treatment can result in pulmonary function impairment. These long-term pulmonary sequelae can be assessed by lung function measurement. Longitudinal evaluation of lung function can help identify infants and children at risk for respiratory impairment and elucidate the long-term consequences of congenital lung anomalies.

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