New Risk Factors for Transient Tachypnea of the Newborn and Childhood Asthma: A Study of Clinical Data and a Survey of Parents

Objectives: It is established that transient tachypnea of the newborn (TTN) is associated with an increased risk of early childhood asthma. However, the question remains whether both asthma and TTN have common risk factors as well as the same underlying etiology. This study aims to determine possible risk factors for TTN as well as early childhood asthma. Methods: This study was carried out in two phases. While the first phase included medical records of 1318 newborns, the second phase consisted of a phone survey. Results: Elective cesarean section (ECS), maternal asthma, gestational age (GA), babies with large and small birth weight, number of pregnancies, and number of children were found to be significantly associated with TTN. ECS, maternal asthma, length of the hospital stay due to TTN, and O(2) treatment were statistically significant for asthma. TTN was found to be associated with a subsequent diagnosis of childhood asthma after adjusting for ECS and maternal asthma. Conclusions: Both ECS and maternal asthma are the common risk factors for the development of both TTN and childhood asthma as previously reported. In order to uncover this association, when ECS is taken out, it is seen that the association between TTN and asthma is stronger. Furthermore, O(2) treatment and duration of hospital stay due to TTN were also found to be associated with childhood asthma. Association of maternal allergic rhinitis and eczema with TTN was investigated and there was no relationship between maternal allergic rhinitis or maternal eczema and the subsequent diagnosis of TTN.