Bronchopulmonary dysplasia is associated with polyhydramnios in a scan for novel perinatal risk factors

Background The pathogenesis of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is multifactorial, and there are limited data about prenatal exposures and risk of BPD. Study design Our study performed parallel analyses using a logistic regression model in a cohort of 4527 infants with data from a curated registry and using a phenome wide association study (PheWAS) based on ICD9/10-based phecodes. We examined 20 prenatal exposures from a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) curated registry database related to pregnancy and maternal health as well as 94 maternal diagnosis phecodes with a PheWAS analysis. Result In both the curated registry and PheWAS analyses, polyhydramnios was associated with an increased risk of BPD (OR 5.70, 95% CI 2.78–11.44, p = 1.37 × 10 −6 ). Conclusion Our data suggest that polyhydramnios may be a clinical indicator of premature infants at increased risk for bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Combining curated registry data with PheWAS analysis creates a valuable tool to generate hypotheses. Impact Polyhydramnios was significantly associated with bronchopulmonary dysplasia in both a curated registry and by ICD coding analysis with a phenome wide association study (PheWAS). Preterm polyhydramnios may be a clinical indicator of infants at increased risk for developing bronchopulmonary dysplasia after preterm birth. Combining curated registry with PheWAS analysis creates a valuable tool to generate hypotheses about perinatal risk factors and morbidities associated with preterm birth.