Management of infants with chronic lung disease of prematurity in China

With improved survival of very low birth weight infants in China over the last decade, chronic lung disease of prematurity (CLD) is only now becoming prevalent. As a result the management of CLD in China is only now beginning. In this paper, we describe the practice of managing these infants with as much evidence base as possible but often the management is based on other published papers in China and elsewhere and other people's personal experience. It appears that oxygen therapy is important to the survival of CLD infants but blood oxygen concentrations must be monitored closely in infants needing oxygen supplementation. We aim for a target range for oxygen saturation range of between 90%-95% to prevent retinopathy of prematurity. Although dexamethasone is effective in the treatment of CLD particularly extubation of preterm infants from mechanical ventilation, we restrict its use in severe infant due to their side effects. We have little experience of home oxygen and are only now setting up management protocols for oxygen use for CLD in both hospital and at home. We hope that the survival and outlook for these infants with CLD will improve over the next few years.