Association between early metabolic acidosis and bronchopulmonary dysplasia/death in preterm infants born at less than 28 weeks’ gestation: an observational cohort study

Abstract Background Metabolic acidosis occurs frequently during the first postnatal days in extremely preterm infants and is mainly attributed to renal immaturity. Recent studies suggested a link between metabolic acidosis and the development of BPD. The aim of this study was to systematically investigate the association between severe metabolic acidosis during the first two weeks of life and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) / mortality among preterm infants born before 28 weeks’ gestation. Methods Monocentric observational cohort study including 1748 blood gas samples of 138 extremely preterm infants born 2020–2022. Metabolic acidosis was defined as pH