Indicators of lung function in children with chronic nonspecific lung diseases with pulmonary fibrosis

Introduction. The pathogenesis of most chronic nonspecific lung diseases (CNSLD) in children is based on a long-term inflammatory process, often leading to the formation of pulmonary fibrosis in the structurally altered tissue, which requires dynamic monitoring of patients, including the study of lung function.Aim. To assess the indicators of the lung function in children with chronic bronchopulmonary pathology accompanied by pulmonary fibrosis.Materials and methods. 84 children with CNSLD were examined. The main group consisted of 45 children with CNSLD with pulmonary fibrosis (bronchopulmonary dysplasia, congenital malformations of the lungs, chronic bronchitis, and post pneumonia fibrosis). The comparison group consisted of 39 children with CNSLD without pulmonary fibrosis. The average age of children in the study groups was 9,3±0,48 years. The patients underwent multispiral computed tomography of the lungs with a virtual bronchoscopy program and intravenous bolus contrast enhancement. Evaluation of lung function was carried out by spirometry.Results. In patients in remission, the average values of the ventilation capacity of the lungs in both groups were within the predicted values. However, in patients with fibrotic changes, pulmonary dysfunction was detected 2 times more often than in children with CNSLD without pulmonary fibrosis (35.5% and 15.4%, respectively, p<0.05). Restrictive ventilation disorders were diagnosed only in the group of patients with pulmonary fibrosis. In children with pulmonary fibrosis, the risk of reduced ventilation capacity is significantly higher than in children with CNSLD without pulmonary fibrosis (OR=3.04, 95% CI 1.049–8.78).Conclusion. The data obtained can serve as a prerequisite for further development of predicting the nature of the course of the disease, identifying “risk groups” for the development of fibrotic changes for a personalized approach to the treatment and follow-up of patients with CNSLD.