Table 1– Clinical characteristics of control patients, and patients with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) or at risk of developing BPD

Patient	Birth weight g	Sex	Gestational age weeks	Chronological age at death days	Duration F_IO₂ >0.50 days	Mechanical ventilation days	Cause of death/autopsy diagnosis	Medication
Group 1
1	1625	M	33	3	0	0	Congenital heart malformation	Atropine Prostaglandin A₁
2	2350	M	35	<1	0	<1 h	Perinatal asphyxia	Atropine Adrenaline
3	1740	F	34	<1	0	0	Intrauterine death (ventriculomegaly)
4	1800	M	32	5	0	5	Meningoencephalitis
5	1190	M	31	<1	0	0	Placental abruption
Median	1740		33
Mean±se	1741±186		33±0.7
Group 2
6	954	M	26	<1	0	0	Intracranial haemorrhage
7	1210	M	28	<1	0	0	Hypoxic–ischaemic encephalopathy
8	826	M	29	<1	0	0	Hydrocephalus Arnold–Chiari malformation
9	852	M	27	<1	0	0	Hypoxic–ischaemic encephalopathy
10	995	M	27	<1	0	0	Placental abruption
Median	954		27
Mean±se	967±68		27±0.5
Group 3
11^#	720	M	29	62	13	62	BPD IRDS Staphylococcus aureus sepsis	Surfactant Inotropes^§ Tobramycin Flucloxacillin Cortisone
12	825	F	27	6	6	6	BPD IRDS Bronchopneumonia Intracranial haemorrhage	Surfactant Inotropes^§ Tobramycin Penicillin
13^#	835	M	26	65	27	65	BPD Cerebral bleeding Ductus arteriosus	Surfactant Inotropes^§ Dexamethasone Theophylline
14^#	930	M	26	99	98	99	BPD IRDS Pneumothorax Subependymal haemorrhage	Surfactant Inotropes^§ Dexamethasone Tobramycin Penicillin Amphotericin
15^#	1250	F	28	34	34	34	BPD IRDS Staphylococcus epidermidis sepsis	Surfactant Furosemide Amoxicillin Erythromycin
16^#	1220	M	31	35	35	35	BPD IRDS Right ventricular hypertrophy Anaemia Rickets	Furosemide Amoxicillin Vancomycin
Median	882		26	49	31	49
Mean±se	963±90		28±0.8	50±13	36±13	50±13
p-value *versus* group 1^¶	0.0032		0.0004	0.229⁺
p-value *versus* group 2^¶	0.987⁺		0.672⁺	<0.0001

Group 1: Control group age matched to the BPD group (group 3) for chronological age at death; group 2: control group matched to the BPD group (Group 3) for birth weight and gestational age at birth; group 3: BPD group, including patients with BPD or at risk of BPD. F_IO₂: inspiratory oxygen fraction; M: male; F: female; IRDS: infant respiratory distress syndrome. ^#: patient had clinically defined BPD. ^¶: unpaired t-test; in the case of chronological age at death, the post-menstrual ages at death, rounded to the nearest full week, were compared. ⁺: nonsignificant; ^§: including dopamine, dobutamine and adrenaline.