OBJECTIVES To evaluate risks for persistent pulmonary hypertension in the newborn, confirmed by echocardiography, associated with cesarean deliveries and other factors. METHODS Cohort of all deliveries >36 weeks within a period of 23 months. A nested case-control study was performed in a subset of the cohort, involving newborns admitted into neonatal intensive care unit with diagnosis of pers...

Persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn is a disorder with failure to decrease pulmonary vascular resistance after birth. Persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn happens in one out of 500 live births with a mortality rate 10-50%. Right after birth the pulmonary vascular resistance decreases drastically within a few minutes when oxygen enters into the fluid-filled alveoli. Fail...

Definition of terms Pulmonary hypertension is defined as a mean pulmonary artery pressure > 25 mm Hg at rest or 30 mm Hg with exercise. The classification of pulmonary hypertension is linked to the anatomy or the aetiology. These diagnostic categories are for the convenience of deciding on treatment. Primary pulmonary hypertension refers to pulmonary hypertension for which no cause can be ident...

Although pulmonary endarterectomy remains the treatment of choice for patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), not all patients will benefit from or receive this highly specialised surgery. Patients whose CTEPH is deemed inoperable by an experienced centre and patients with persistent pulmonary hypertension after surgery are candidates for trial of pulmonary arterial...

BACKGROUND Pulmonary thromboendarterectomy (PTE) is the preferred treatment for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), but persistent pulmonary hypertension after PTE, as a result of either inaccessible distal thrombotic material or coexistent intrinsic small-vessel disease, remains a major determinant of poor outcome. Conventional preoperative evaluation is unreliable in identi...

Group B Streptococcus is the most common cause of bacterial infection in the newborn. Infection in many cases causes persistent pulmonary hypertension, which impairs gas exchange in the lung. We purified the bacterial components causing pulmonary hypertension and identified them as cardiolipin and phosphatidylglycerol. Synthetic cardiolipin or phosphatidylglycerol also induced pulmonary hyperte...