It has been hypothesized that infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) may have increased metabolic rates compared to healthy infants. The purpose of this investigation was to investigate total energy expenditure (TEE) in a group of ventilator-dependent infants with severe BPD. We postulated that the largest increase TEE in infants with BPD relative to healthy infants should be found in this population. We compared a group of infants with severe BPD and a group of healthy, corrected age-matched controls (CTL). Patient characteristics are as follows: BPD, n=5, birthweight=785±198 gm, gestation=25.4±1.9 wk; age=8.4±1.0 mo; corrected age=4.8±0.6 mo; CTL, n=6, birthweight=3460±460 gm; gestation=40.0±0.0 wk; age=4.2±0.6 mo. All BPD infants required mechanical ventilation since the neonatal period and throughout the study. TEE and total body water (TBW) were measured by the doubly labeled water method over one week; and energy intake (EI) was calculated from water turnover correcting for metabolic rate and formula composition.

RESULTS: All values are mean±sd.Table

Table 1
Full size table

CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to our hypothesis, TEE in ventilator-dependent infants with severe BPD is slightly, but not significantly, higher than that in healthy controls. The similar rates of energy expenditure in the two groups suggest that the ventilator may effectively reduce the work of breathing in infants with BPD. Ventilator-dependent infants with BPD may not require substantially higher caloric intakes than their normal peers to meet their energy needs.