What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia?

Most babies who get bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) are born with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). The signs and symptoms of RDS at birth are:

• Rapid, shallow breathing
• Sharp pulling in of the chest below the ribs with each breath taken in
• Grunting sounds during exhalation
• Flaring of the nostrils during breathing

As a result, these babies usually are put on a breathing machine right away. This is to prevent damage to their brains, hearts, and other body organs from lack of oxygen. These babies also are given surfactant to coat the tiny air sacs and to help prevent their lungs from collapsing.

Doctors can usually diagnose BPD after about 2 weeks. At this point, the baby hasn't started getting better, and he or she needs more oxygen.

Babies with severe BPD may also develop:

• Pulmonary arterial hypertension, continuous high blood pressure in the blood vessels that carry oxygen-poor blood from the right ventricle in the heart to the small arteries in the lungs
• Cor pulmonale, failure of the right side of the heart caused by ongoing high blood pressure in the pulmonary artery and right ventricle