Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia: From Neonatal Chronic Lung Disease to Early Onset Adult COPD

This is a pilot, cross-sectional exploratory study to evaluate the relationship between imaging and other biomarkers in fifty patients born pre-term (with or without bronchopulmonary dysplasia \[BPD\]) and age-matched healthy controls. The term-born adults will serve as the controls. All subjects will visit the Clinical Imaging Research Laboratories at Robarts Research Institute or the University of Montreal University Health Centre Sainte-Justine in a single visit and undergo: vital signs, pulmonary function testing (more specifically: spirometry, body plethysmography, airwave oscillation, and lung clearance index), questionnaires, proton and 129Xe MRI. Preterm patients will also have a low-dose chest computed tomography (CT), and have blood and urine samples taken for biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress. MRI of the lungs will be performed using non-contrast enhanced methods (ultra-short echo time \[UTE\] MRI) and using an inhaled contrast agent: Hyperpolarized Xenon-129. Participants will inhale the hyperpolarized gas and perform a breathhold for up to 16 seconds. Four different types of images will be acquired in the coronal plain during each visit: 1) 1H thoracic cavity, 2) 129Xe static ventilation, 3) 129Xe diffusion weighted imaging, and, 4) multi-volume UTE MRI. Respiration and oxygen saturation will be monitored throughout the imaging session.