TY - JOUR T1 - Lung function and gender at twelve to thirteen years of age in children born very prematurely JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 40 IS - Suppl 56 SP - P4614 AU - Sanja Zivanovic AU - Mireia Alcazar Paris AU - Alan Lunt AU - Jessica Lo AU - Sandra Calvert AU - Neil Marlow AU - Janet Peacock AU - Anne Greenough Y1 - 2012/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P4614.abstract N2 - Lung function abnormalities are common in school aged children born extremely prematurely. Follow up of infants born at 23-28 weeks gestational age from the United Kingdom Oscillation Study (UKOS) showed males had a higher incidence of respiratory morbidity during infancy.Aim: To test the hypothesis that lung function at 12-13 years of age in children born very prematurely would be worse in males than females.Methods: Lung function was assessed in 65 children, the first to date assessed in follow-up of UKOS, which randomised babies to high frequency oscillation or conventional ventilation. Forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), FEV1:FVC, residual volume (RV), transfer factor for carbon monoxide (TLCO), functional residual capacity (FRC) and response to cold air challenge (CACh) were assessed. Results were abnormal if two standard deviations (SD) below expected, except RV results which were abnormal if >2 SDs.Results: 29 females and 36 males have been assessed. A greater proportion of males compared to females were oxygen dependant at 28 days (89% versus 69%, p=0.063), had reduced FEV1 (22% versus 3.5%, p=0.036), higher RV (34% versus 4%, p=0.009) and higher FRCpleth (26% versus 0%, p=0.008), but there were no significant differences regarding the proportions with reduced FEV1:FVC (44% versus 31%, p=0.27 (FET p=0.31)) or reduced TLCO (29% versus 50%, p=0.18 (FET p=0.23)) or responding to a CACh (24% versus 26%, p=0.94).Conclusion: Preliminary results suggest that amongst 12-13 year old children born at 23-28 weeks gestation, males have greater airways obstruction than females, but this is not explained by greater airway hyper-reactivity. ER -