Abstract:

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a chronic lung disease occurring in preterm infants, typically before 28 weeks of gestational age, characterized by a prolonged need for supplemental oxygen or positive pressure ventilation. The normal stages of lung development and their relation to the timing of preterm birth is strategic in order to understand the pathogenesis of BPD. In embryonic and pseudoglandular stages the lungs arise from the anterior foregut as a bud where the branching morphogenesis generate a tree-like network of airways. The canalicular stage is characterized by increasing proliferation of distal lung epithelial cells and rapid expansion of the intra-acinar capillaries. The complexity of the airways increases, secondary crests begin to form and full maturation of the alveolus occurs during the saccular and the alveolar stages. Mesechyme components, expecially elastin and myofibroblast, display a major role in normal lung development. BPD is thought to result after an acute insult to the neonatal lung following therapy with oxygen supplementation and mechanical ventilation. Chorioamnionitis, infections and genetic susceptibly are hypothesized to contribute to the injury that affect the normal human lung development. Abnormalities in the mesenchyme were consistently seen in association with inhibition of alveolarization. The pathological features that characterize BPD are complex and differ according with the disease progression. Alveolar simplification, interstitial fibrosis, septal thickness, large airways, smooth muscle hypertrophy, fetal artery persistance and decrease in the arterial number can be histologically observed. In conclusion, in order to reach a complete clinical-pathological diagnosis, the correlation of the pathological features with the fundamental steps of lung morphogenesis and a strict dialogue between the neonatologist and the perinatal pathologist are required. Given these conditions, in our experience, a better understanding of the underlying pathological mechanisms of BPD might provide insight into development of new therapeutic and preventive strategies.

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