Respiratory distress syndrome in newborns of gestational age of over 32 weeks.

Albeit the aetiology of the respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) is well known, the paper shall demonstrate that the causes of RDS changed over the years 2006 and 2010. This retrospective study comprises analysis of the data collected from 60 newborns of over 32 weeks gestation with RDS in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Clinical Hospital Centre in Osijek. The focus of the paper lies in the difference in the incidence of RDS over two research periods (2006 and 2010), the most common and possible causes of RDS in newborns of over 32 weeks gestation as well as in the potential changes in the aetiology over the two research periods. An increase in the incidence of RDS was established in 2010, but it was statistically significant only for newborns of gestational age of 35 1/7 to 36 6/7 weeks. The most common cause of RDS in both research periods was sepsis, which decreased in its share in 2010, whereas the incidence of asphyxia and complications during pregnancy increased. The new potential cause in 2010 was maternal thrombophilia. The share of unknown causes of RDS decreased, although not significantly so. The results of the research indicate that the causes of RDS changed over the observed periods and that further research should focus on thrombophilia and other complications during pregnancy with the aim of reducing morbidity and improving neonatal outcomes as well as further reducing the incidence of RDS with unknown causes in newborns.