Some neonatal risk factors for adult pulmonary arterial hypertension remain unknown.
OBJECTIVE
Pulmonary hypertension has been linked to premature birth, chronic lung disease, bronchopulmonary dysplasia and congenital heart disease. This national population-based registry study assessed the risk of adult pulmonary hypertension following premature birth, adjusted for known risk factors.


METHODS
We focused on adults in the Swedish Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Registry, who were born prematurely, and controls randomly selected from the Swedish medical birth register and matched to each case by birth year and delivery hospital. Information on perinatal factors was also retrieved from the medical birth register. Conditional multiple logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between premature birth and adult pulmonary hypertension, taking into account the potential confounding factors.


RESULTS
The study population comprised 427 adults born between 1973 and 1996, with 61 cases and 366 controls. Adult pulmonary hypertension was associated with premature birth, with an odds ratio of 3.08 and 95% confidence interval of 1.21-7.87. The association did not alter after adjusting for potential confounders.


CONCLUSIONS
By adjusting for factors linked to adult pulmonary hypertension, namely congenital heart defects, pulmonary diseases and premature birth, we were able to show that other unknown factors may influence the risk for pulmonary hypertension among adults who were born premature.
Department of Clinical Science, Paediatrics, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.|Unit of Research, Education and Development, Östersund Hospital, Östersund, Sweden.
Estelle
E
Naumburg
Mid Sweden University, Östersund, Sweden.
Inge
I
Axelsson
Unit of Research, Education and Development, Östersund Hospital, Östersund, Sweden.
Daniel
D
Huber
Unit of Research, Education and Development, Östersund Hospital, Östersund, Sweden.
Lars
L
Söderström
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D047928:Premature Birth; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D055815:Young Adult
Brochopulmonary dysplasia; Chronic lung disease; Premature birth; Pulmonary Hypertension; Risk factors