Growth and respiratory health in adolescence of the extremely low-birth weight survivor.

ELBW children grow poorly in early childhood, but catch up substantially in weight and height by 14 years of age. The final adult stature for ELBW children remains to be determined. Despite the need sometimes for prolonged periods of assisted ventilation and oxygen therapy, the respiratory health and lung function of ELBW children is mostly normal in adolescence. ELBW children with BPD had similar respiratory health compared with ELBW children without BPD. The effects of cigarette smoke, both passive and active, and of newer therapies, such as exogenous surfactant and postnatal corticosteroids, on respiratory health in adulthood remain to be determined.