Alveolar surfactant and adult respiratory distress syndrome

Surfactant Function in Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome*

W e have reported previously on abnormalities of human surf actant in a lung from a patient with the adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) following trauma and shock.’ The lung with ARDS was compared to three normal lungs obtained from transplant donors. An abnormal static pressure-volume curve indicated reduced compliance and abnormally high surfactant film compressibility was found, but ...

Natural surfactant substitution in respiratory distress syndrome.

Natural surfactants consist of unique proteins and lipids. Their effectiveness in improving subnormal lung function in surfactant deficiency should be established prior to any clinical trials. Rigorous tests are required to document batch to batch variability in surface activity and to exclude toxic contaminants. Up to this date randomized clinical trials in small preterm infants have demonstra...

Surfactant medication for acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Background. Patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) have a deficiency of surfactant. Surfactant replacement improves physiologic function in such patients, and preliminary data suggest that it may improve survival. Methods. We conducted a prospective, multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial involving 725 patients with sepsis-induced ARDS. Patients were s...

Surfactant treatment for acute respiratory distress syndrome.

OBJECTIVE To determine prospectively the efficacy of surfactant in acute respiratory distress syndrome. STUDY DESIGN Twenty patients, 1 month to 16 years of age, diagnosed with an acute pulmonary disease with severe hypoxaemia (PaO2/FiO2 < 100) (13 with systemic or pulmonary disease and seven with cardiac disease) were treated with one to six doses of 50-200 mg/kg of porcine surfactant admini...

Will exogenous surfactant treat respiratory distress syndrome?