Forced Expiratory Flow in Uninfected Infants and Children Born to HIV-infected Mothers

The Pediatric Pulmonary and Cardiovascular Complications of Vertically Transmitted HIV (P2C2 HIV) Study is a multicenter study examining pulmonary and cardiac outcomes in offspring of HIV-infected mothers. This portion of the P2C2 study tests the hypothesis that infants exposed to, but uninfected by, maternal HIV have normal maximal expiratory flow at functional residual capacity (V ′ max,FRC). We obtained 500 measurements of V ′ max,FRC by rapid thoracic compression in 285 children ages 6–30 mo in five U.S. centers. The data were compared with those from a healthy cohort of children described elsewhere. V ′ max,FRC rose with height in a linear relationship. The slope of the regression line in the exposed infants did not differ statistically from the slope in the comparison group, but the intercept was about 20% lower (p < 0.001). Height and weight were comparable in the two cohorts, and the differences between intercepts persisted after adjusting for birth weight and gestational age. However, maternal HI...