Investigators: Shannon Simpson, Andrew Wilson, Denby Evans, Graham Hall, Mon Ohn, Rachael Marpole, Rhea Urs, Rubi Ni Chin
External collaborators: Stacey Reinke (Edith Cowan University), David Broadhurst (Edith Cowan University), Jane Pillow (King Edward Memorial Hospital), Peter Sly (University of Queensland), Robert Trengrove (Murdoch University)
More than 15 million babies are born preterm each year. Babies that are born preterm usually have underdeveloped lungs, which can result in breathing problems and poor lung health. This poor lung health may continue for years, and some children may have lung function that worsens through childhood. Some researchers have suggested that ongoing inflammation in the lungs might contribute to worsening lung function. Further studies are urgently needed to understand whether inflammation in the lungs continues into childhood and whether this inflammation contributes to the poor lung health experienced by some children who were born preterm.
Our study aims to understand how inflammation in the lungs contributes to these ongoing breathing problems during childhood. We will test how treatment with an inhaled anti-inflammatory medicine which is commonly used to treat asthma, called Flixotide, changes the lung disease in preterm children, who are currently aged 6-12 years old.
Participants in this study will complete a questionnaire about lung health, perform lung function tests and provide some biological samples to researchers. Participants who were born preterm will then be given the study treatment, or a placebo, which they will take for 12 weeks. After the 12 weeks of treatment, the participants will repeat the questionnaire, lung function tests and biological sample collection.
This study will help us understand more about why some children who were born premature have ongoing breathing problems. This study will also help us know if the anti-inflammatory medicine Flixotide, is useful for treating the underlying lung disease and improving lung function in children who were born preterm.
Partners: King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women, Perth Children’s Hospital