The incidence of live preterm birth is increasing and concomitantly the survival of preterm babies has increased over the last 30 years due to advances in neonatal care. Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a chronic respiratory disease that develops as a consequence of perinatal and/or neonatal lung injury following preterm birth and the pathology has also changed with changes in neonatal care. There are data suggesting that there is increased respiratory morbidity of ex-preterm subjects in childhood. It is only now that large populations of preterm subjects are reaching adulthood and may be at risk of persistent respiratory morbidity. This review will summarize the current knowledge in adulthood of respiratory sequelae following preterm birth; specifically it will review respiratory symptoms, pulmonary function, exercise capacity and structural lung disease as determined by high resolution computed tomography scans in ex-preterm survivors with and without BPD. Whether prematurity-related lung disease is associated with chronic obstructive airways disease will be discussed.
