Liptzin 2020
Liptzin 2020
Liptzin 2020
Corresponding Author:
Deborah R. Liptzin, M.D.
Address: Section of Pediatric Pulmonology, University of Colorado School of Medicine,
13123 East 16th Ave Box B-395, Aurora, CO 80045.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 720 777-6181.
Fax: 720 777-7284
Author Contributions: DRL conceived and designed the study, collected, analyzed and
interpreted the data, wrote and revised the manuscript. RRD designed the study, interpreted
the data, revised the manuscript, and approved for submission. KP and JTB assisted in
designing the study, analyzed and interpreted the data, wrote and revised the manuscript, and
approved for submission. AA, MPF, AC, CTT, JBT, GK, JASH, JAW, RS, HA, SDD, and LRY
contributed to implementation of the study, collection and analysis of data, critically reviewed
and revised the manuscript, and approved for submission.
Sources of Support: This study was supported by grant UL1 TR001082 from the NIH/NCRR
Colorado CTSI, U01HL13475 (JAW), and NIH/NHLBI K24HL143281 (LRY).
Abstract
interstitial and diffuse lung disease (chILD) in which the diagnostic strategy has evolved. The
prevalence of comorbidities in NEHI that may influence treatment has not been previously
assessed.
Objectives: To evaluate a previously unpublished NEHI Clinical Score for assistance in diagnosis
Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of 199 deidentified patients with NEHI
from eleven centers. Data were collected in a centralized REDCap registry, and we performed
descriptive statistics.
Results: The majority of patients with NEHI were male (66%) (Figure 1). The sensitivity of the
NEHI Clinical Score was 87% (95% CI 0.82, 0.91) for all patients from included centers; 93% (95%
CI 0.86, 0.97) for those with complete scores (e.g. no missing data). Findings were similar when
we limited the population to the 75 patients diagnosed by lung biopsy (87% with 95% CI 0.77,
0.93). Of those patients evaluated for comorbidities, 51% had gastroesophageal reflux, 35%
had aspiration or were at risk for aspiration, and 17% had evidence of immune system
abnormalities.
Conclusions: The NEHI Clinical Score is a sensitive tool for clinically evaluating NEHI; however,
its specificity has not yet been addressed. Clinicians should consider evaluating patients with
NEHI for comorbidities including gastroesophageal reflux, aspiration and immune system
abnormalities as these can contribute to the child’s clinical picture and may influence clinical
Neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia of infancy (NEHI) is a form of children’s interstitial and diffuse
lung disease (chILD). It was initially named Persistent Tachypnea of Infancy (1) and
subsequently NEHI once biopsy findings of increased numbers of neuroendocrine cells in the
airways were described (2). NEHI is a distinct entity with characteristic clinical features, infant
pulmonary function testing, and high resolution (inspiratory and expiratory) chest computed
tomography (HRCT) findings. The pathophysiology of NEHI is poorly understood. Patients with
NEHI exhibit tachypnea, retractions, crackles, and hypoxemia. Clubbing is absent, as are cough
or wheeze at well baseline (2). Non-pulmonary manifestations of NEHI include failure to thrive
and developmental delays (3). Infant pulmonary function tests reveal tachypnea, air trapping,
and variable degrees of airflow obstruction (4). Characteristic HRCT findings include air
trapping and ground glass opacities predominantly in the right middle lobe, lingula, and/or
perihilar regions (5). NEHI can be diagnosed clinically by HRCT scan in the appropriate clinical
context.(6) Pathologic findings of NEHI are notable for an increased percentage of airway
neuroendocrine cells(2). Currently, lung biopsies are typically performed in children with
atypical presentations and/or at centers less familiar with chILD. Anecdotally, some patients
with NEHI have been found to have a variety of comorbidities, including immunologic
abnormalities and aspiration/gastroesophageal reflux, but this has not been formally evaluated
or reported.
Leland Fan, M.D., initially proposed a clinical score for NEHI that includes 10 prototypical
clinical features. We utilized the largest prospective multicenter cohort of clinician defined
NEHI cases to date to test the hypothesis that the NEHI Clinical Score is a sensitive test for NEHI.
We also evaluated the frequency of comorbidities in this large cohort of patients with NEHI.
Methods
Patients were enrolled through eleven North American centers within the chILD Research
Medical Center, St. Louis Children’s Hospital/Washington University School of Medicine, Rady
State University, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and Hospital for Sick Children. Centers
entered as few as two patients to as many as 114 patients (Figure 1). The institutional review
board of each participating institution approved this study and informed consent was waived.
The NEHI clinical score consists of the following ten items: symptom onset before 12
months of age, failure to thrive, absence of clubbing, absence of cough when well, absence of
wheeze when well, abnormal chest wall (barrel chest or pectus excavatum), crackles,
hypoxemia, tachypnea, and retractions. Each of the ten items are assigned a value of zero
(no/not present) or one (yes/present), and the score is the sum of these values, with a
maximum score of ten (e.g. patient with symptom onset at 5 months of age, failure to thrive,
no clubbing, no cough when well, no wheeze when well, barrel chest, crackles, hypoxemia,
tachypnea, and retractions). A score of 7 or higher is considered consistent with NEHI based on
Data were entered retrospectively by the site clinician into a standardized data
collection form in REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture), a secure, web-based application
designed to support data capture for research studies (7). Identification of patients was unique
to each center: there was no unifying electronic health record search for patients. Diagnosis of
NEHI was determined by the entering clinician who noted if the patient was diagnosed by lung
biopsy or by HRCT and consistent clinical course. Data collection included information on chILD
center location, sex, race, ethnicity, mode of diagnosis (lung biopsy or by HRCT and consistent
clinical course), age at symptom onset, clinical findings, and comorbidities. Failure to thrive
was defined as body mass index or weight for length less than the 25th percentile or if “failure
to thrive” was documented in the medical record. Hypoxemia, tachypnea, chest wall
abnormalities, and retractions were determined at the discretion of the clinician entering data.
Database fields for comorbidities included reflux testing: abnormal/normal/not done, swallow
Data elements that were not entered were considered missing data. Descriptive
statistics were calculated and summarized. Not all data were available for each data element.
The available number (N=) is presented in the tables with the variable. Sensitivity was
calculated for a cutoff NEHI Clinical Score of 7 or greater compared to clinician diagnosis of
NEHI based on lung biopsy and/or diagnosed clinically. Proportions were presented with 95%
Results
Demographic data are presented in Table 1. The patients were predominantly male (66%),
Caucasian (69%), non-Hispanic (68%), and born at full term (88%). The rate of preterm births
(<37 weeks) was 11% (95% CI 7.55,16.73). Median age at symptom onset was 4 months (IQR 2-
6 months). A majority (62%) of patients were diagnosed by clinical and radiographic features
Figure 2 demonstrates the NEHI Clinical Score for the population of 199 patients. The
sensitivity of the NEHI Clinical Score was 87% (95% CI 0.82, 0.91) for all patients from included
centers. When only patients with complete data (the clinician entered yes or no for all 10
components) were included, 93% of 91 patients (95% CI 0.86, 0.97) had a NEHI Clinical Score of
7 or greater. The breakdown for each component of the NEHI Clinical Score is presented in
Figure 3; the most common missing data were chest wall abnormalities (81 patients) and failure
to thrive (54 patients). When only the 75 patients who were diagnosed by biopsy were
included, 65 had NEHI Clinical Scores suggestive of a diagnosis of NEHI (i.e. 7 or greater)
resulting in a sensitivity of 87% (95% CI .77, .93). When only those diagnosed by biopsy with no
missing data are evaluated (24 patients), all had a NEHI Clinical Score suggestive of NEHI (i.e. 7
Table 2 demonstrates the comorbidities assessed. Of the 98 who were tested for
gastroesophageal reflux, half had abnormal results. Of the 103 who were evaluated for
aspiration, one-third had abnormal results. Sixty two percent (117/189) of patients underwent
some type of immunologic evaluation and 17% of those (20/117) had abnormalities. Immune
system abnormalities included seven patients with low IgG, one with elevated IgG, two with
elevated IgM, and one each with elevated IgA, elevated IgE, low IgA, low C3, and cyclic
neutropenia of infancy. Seven patients had unspecified abnormalities of the immune system.
Several patients had more than one abnormality noted. Those who had low IgG levels were
evaluated from 4 months of age to 27 months of age. Several patients were tested on more
than one occasion and were included as having immune system abnormalities if they were
Discussion
Establishing the diagnosis of NEHI can be challenging if the HRCT findings are atypical. With a
sensitivity of 87% (all 199 patients, all patients with biopsies) to 93% (patients with complete
data) to 100% (patients with biopsies and complete data), the NEHI Clinical Score may be a
helpful tool in recognition of NEHI. Some centers have been using this score informally. When
evaluated serially, the score decreases with age as symptoms like failure to thrive, crackles,
hypoxemia, tachypnea, and retractions improve over time in children with NEHI. Parts of the
score such as symptom onset before 12 months of age will persist over time. Including patients
who were diagnosed clinically raises the question of whether these patients truly had NEHI.
evaluated the subset of patients who were diagnosed by biopsy, and the NEHI clinical score was
similarly sensitive. This study was limited by its retrospective design, missing data elements,
and lack of a control group. Prospective studies such as those being performed through the
chILD Research Network will permit further analysis of the NEHI Clinical Score as a clinical
prediction score in combination with HRCT for diagnosis and to assess disease trajectory (8, 9).
In this cohort, we found a male predominance, which has been previously reported (2,
4, 6, 10, 11), but not consistently in all NEHI cohorts (3, 12, 13) and not consistently in all
included centers (Figure 1). The etiology of this sex difference in NEHI is poorly understood.
There is a known male predominance in respiratory diseases among infants and young children
in general, though this also is not well understood (14). Most NEHI patients were born full term,
and the rate of preterm births was not significantly different than the national preterm birth
Clinicians should consider evaluating patients with NEHI for comorbidities including
hypogammaglobulinemia. Except for sleep disordered breathing (16), these comorbidities have
not previously been described and may significantly influence treatment in an individual
patient. It is unknown whether some of these comorbidities contribute to the clinical picture of
hyperinflation leading to increased elastic recoil of the lung which in turn leads to more
gradient from the stomach to the intrathoracic esophagus, leading to more reflux.
Gastroesophageal reflux has been described in other forms of obstructive lung disease such as
cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (17-19). Aspiration may be more
common among NEHI patients because of the tachypnea and increased work of breathing
making coordination of swallowing more difficult. Aspiration in the setting of tachypnea and
increased work of breathing has been described in infants with bronchiolitis (20).
mechanism leading to hypogammaglobulinemia in the eight patients with NEHI in this cohort is
We suggest evaluating for hypogammaglobulinemia among NEHI patients since this may lead to
specific therapy, e.g. prophylactic antibiotic therapy and/or intravenous immunoglobulin, given
the higher morbidity of respiratory infections in patients with underlying lung disease. Some
patients were noted to have other immunologic abnormalities, such as elevated IgA, elevated
IgE, elevated IgG, low IgA, low C3, and elevated IgM. Assessing for immunologic abnormalities
in future prospective studies would be helpful to better define the spectrum of immunologic
abnormalities in NEHI.
The pathophysiology of NEHI is not well understood, but the constellation of symptoms
and laboratory findings reinforce that NEHI is a clinical entity with a unique combination of
physiologic changes, HRCT findings, symptoms, and lung biopsy findings (2, 4-6). Chest wall
shape was not consistently evaluated in all centers and would be useful to assess in future
prospective studies. NEHI patients have significant elevated residual volumes and air trapping
(4) and HRCT scans have demonstrated that patients with NEHI have altered chest wall shape
with increased anterior-posterior diameter (22). Having physicians closely evaluate chest shape
during the physical exam is a useful assessment that may turn out to reflect underlying
physiology and anatomy. Future radiologic evaluations may allow for more objective
We propose the NEHI clinical score as a sensitive tool for clinicians to identify patients
for whom further evaluation for NEHI should be considered (e.g. HRCT scan, infant pulmonary
function tests). In future studies, we hope to compare the NEHI score in this cohort to disease
control groups such as asthma, cystic fibrosis, or in other forms of chILD in the chILDRN
prospective database. We highlight several comorbidities that should be evaluated for and
addressed in patients with NEHI since appropriate treatments may modify disease course.
Prospective studies in infants with suspected NEHI could evaluate the predictive characteristics
of the NEHI Clinical Score, and a longitudinal study could evaluate the NEHI Clinical Score’s
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Leland Fan, MD for inspiring the current project as well as the research
coordinators who entered data and/or managed the database, including Pamela Morel, Emily
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N (%) or
Median [Inner Quartile, Outer Quartile]
Sex (N=195)
Male 129 (66)
Female 66 (34)
Gestational age at birth (N=185)
Full term (>37 weeks) 164 (89)
>32-36 weeks 17 (9)
28-32 weeks 4 (2)
<28 weeks NA
Race (N=173)
White 120 (69)
African American 4 (2)
American Indian NA (NA)
Hawaiian NA (NA)
Pacific Islander NA (NA)
Asian 2 (1)
Other 21 (12)
Ethnicity (N=164)
Hispanic 20 (12)
Non-Hispanic 112 (68)
Refused or Unknown 32 (20)
Age of symptom onset (in months) 4 [2, 6]
Mode of diagnosis (N=198)
Lung biopsy 75 (38)
No biopsy 123 (62)
N (%)
Gastroesophageal reflux testing (N=185)
Abnormal 50 (27)
Normal 48 (26)
Not Done 87 (47)
Swallow study (N=189)
Frank Aspiration 8 (4)
Abnormal without Frank Aspiration 28 (15)
Normal 67 (35)
Not Done 86 (46)
Figure Legends
Figure 2. Distribution of the NEHI clinical score in 199 patients. The shaded area indicates those
Figure 3. Each component of the NEHI Clinical Score in 199 patients with NEHI. Each
component of the score is yes (blue), no (red), or missing (gray). Components are presented as
Figure 2. Distribution of the NEHI clinical score in 199 patients. The shaded area indicates those with scores
above 7 and consistent with NEHI.
Figure 3. Each component of the NEHI Clinical Score in 199 patients with NEHI. Each component of the
score is yes (blue), no (red), or missing (gray). Components are presented as percentages of all included
patients.