The Association Between the Surgical Timing for Congenital Malformation of Lung and Asthma Prevalence-A Nationwide Cohort Study.

INTRODUCTION

Congenital lung malformations (CLMs) is a rare disorder with the increasing incidence of approximately 1 out of every 30,000 pregnancies during recent decade, which was attributed to advanced prenatal screening test. Some studies have discovered the possible association between asthma and CLMs, which was currently lack of investigation. This study aims to clarify the link between asthma and CLMs or age at surgery.

METHOD: A nationwide cohort study was conducted by retrieving all newborn babies from 2004 to 2014 from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) diagnosed with CLMs before the age of 6 years (n = 816). A comparison group without these diagnoses (n = 8160) was also identified. The primary outcome is the incidence of asthma in children diagnosed with CLMs compared to the general population.

RESULTS

The overall incidence of asthma in CLMs patients in new born babies are 1.76 times more likely to have asthma compared to those without CLMs. Maternal allergic diseases, mode of delivery, multiple births, birth weight do not differ significantly between neonates with and without CLMs. Multivariate analysis revealed that maternal asthma, male, prematurity, and certain comorbidities (atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, acute bronchiolitis and pneumonia) increased the risk of asthma. Surgery for CLMs and surgical timing within the first 2 years of life doesn't increase the risk of developing asthma.

CONCLUSION

CLMs are associated with a significantly higher incidence of asthma compared to those without CLMs. Surgical intervention for CLMs within the first 2 years of life does not significantly alter the risk of developing asthma.