Developmental deficiency in pulmonary surfactant leads to respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in preterm infants, but all newborns may have impaired surfactant metabolism secondary to lung disease or ventilator induced lung injury. Exogenous surfactant treatment is usually administered in conjunction with mechanical ventilation. If instead surfactant administration is followed by nasal continuo...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effects of 2 different doses of exogenous surfactant on pulmonary mechanics and on the regularity of pulmonary parenchyma inflation in newborn rabbits. METHOD Newborn rabbits were submitted to tracheostomy and randomized into 4 study groups: the Control group did not receive any material inside the trachea; the MEC group was instilled with meconium, without surfactan...

OBJECTIVES Biologically variable ventilation improves lung function in acute respiratory distress models. If enhanced recruitment is responsible for these results, then biologically variable ventilation might promote distribution of exogenous surfactant to nonaerated areas. Our objectives were to confirm model predictions of enhanced recruitment with biologically variable ventilation using comp...

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remains the primary indication for admission to paediatric intensive care units and accounts for significant mortality, morbidity and resource utilization. Respiratory infections, in particular pneumonia and severe bronchiolitis, are the most common causes of respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation in infants and children. This paper revie...

OBJECTIVE: To analyze and update information about surfactant therapy replacement in newborns with lung diseases. SOURCES: Literature review, including textbooks, meta-analyses, prospective, randomized controlled trials, retrospective assessments and case studies. Literature was reviewed based on the authors clinical and scientific experience regarding surfactant replacement therapy in neonatal...

Previous in vitro studies have suggested that surfactant protein A (SP-A) may play a role in pulmonary surfactant homeostasis by mediating surfactant secretion and clearance. However, mice made deficient in SP-A [SP-A (-/-) animals] have relatively normal levels of surfactant compared with wild-type SP-A (+/+) animals. We hypothesize that SP-A may play a role in surfactant homeostasis after acu...

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory reactions in pathophysiologic conditions of lung are a critical problem in the treatment process, which in some cases lead to death, particularly in neonate. Exogenous lung surfactant has been considered as a c...

Liquid can be instilled into the pulmonary airways during medical procedures such as surfactant replacement therapy, partial liquid ventilation, and pulmonary drug delivery. For all cases, understanding the dynamics of liquid distribution in the lung will increase the efficacy of treatment. A recently developed imaging technique for the study of real-time liquid transport dynamics in the pulmon...

Inhalation injury is one of the main causes of death in patients with severe burns. Administration of exogenous surfactant appears promising for the treatment of acute respiratory failure. We report our clinical experience with this approach. A 35 yr-old man was admitted to our burns unit after an industrial accident. He had sustained a 60% total body surface area full-thickness burn combined w...