Biology of the neonate
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Biology of the neonate · Jan 1999
Comparative StudyHigh-frequency oscillatory ventilation, partial liquid ventilation, or conventional mechanical ventilation in newborn piglets with saline lavage-induced acute lung injury. A comparison of gas-exchange efficacy and lung histomorphology.
It has been reported that, in diseased lungs, either partial liquid ventilation (PLV) or high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) can improve oxygenation better and with less lung injury than conventional mechanical ventilation (CMV). This study was intended as a preclinical comparison between the effects of HFOV, PLV and CMV on gas exchange, lung mechanics and histology. Fifteen anesthetized newborn piglets, with respiratory insufficiency due to repeated saline lung lavage, were allocated to either a PLV, HFOV or CMV (n = 5 each) strategy, and treated for 4 h. ⋯ The saline lavage-induced acute lung injury model used as in this study, is less stable than previously thought. The final lung injury is not influenced by the ventilation strategy. We speculate that the impaired gas exchange during PLV is an expression of diffusion limitation and ventilation-perfusion mismatch in a recovering lung.
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Biology of the neonate · Nov 1998
ReviewCongenital diaphragmatic hernia. A cause of persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn which lacks an effective therapy.
Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is still an unsolved problem. A disease which was, for a long time, thought to be merely a hole in the diaphragm appears today to be an intriguing malformation with a poorly understood pathogenesis and a complex pathophysiology. CDH results in various degrees of pulmonary hypoplasia and severe persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn. ⋯ Therefore, research is needed to elucidate the aetiology and pathogenesis of CDH. Knowledge about the cellular control of proliferation, differentiation and programmed cell death (apoptosis) in the organogenesis should clarify our understanding of these processes and allow us to develop drugs that stimulate lung growth or even correct the anatomical defect. Furthermore, early and reliable assessment of prognosis for fetuses with CDH at risk of death will become increasingly important in the identification of fetuses most likely to benefit from antenatal therapies and may eventually lead to decreased mortality.
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Biology of the neonate · Nov 1998
Indications of coagulation and/or fibrinolytic system activation in healthy and sick very-low-birth-weight neonates.
A combined hemostatic defect consisting of a reduction in certain procoagulants, anticoagulants (antithrombin III-ATIII-, protein C-PC-) and components of the fibrinolytic system (plasminogen-Plg-) was demonstrated in very-low-birth-weight infants (VLBW <1,500 g) with gestational age 26-32 weeks. Sixteen of them were healthy, 28 were suffering from RDS and 24 from septicemia. The hemostatic defect was more profound in the RDS group, nevertheless increased TAT (thrombin + ATIII complex) and/or PAP values (plasmin + a2-antiplasmin complex) was a more frequent finding in the septicemic group of infants (91.8 vs. 17.9%). ⋯ Elevated TAT or PAP values were not always associated with gross coagulation abnormalities, and advanced disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) was only documented in 16.7% of the septicemic and 7.1% of the RDS infants. None of the VLBW neonates presented with clinical evidence of thrombosis, although hemorrhagic manifestations were apparent in 34.8 and 14.3% of the neonates with septicemia or RDS, respectively, mainly due to DIC or severe thrombocytopenia. In conclusion, increased TAT and/or PAP values are good indicators of the in vivo activation of the hemostatic system, but still their impact on sick neonates morbidity and mortality remains unknown.
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Biology of the neonate · Sep 1998
Review Comparative StudySurfactant therapy in acute respiratory distress syndrome.
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Biology of the neonate · Jan 1998
Dexamethasone for pulmonary interstitial emphysema in preterm infants.
The efficacy of a 3-day course of dexamethasone (0.5 mg/kg/ day) in 10 preterm infants (< or = 30 weeks gestation) with pulmonary interstitial emphysema (PIE) was studied in a retrospective case review. PIE was diagnosed at a median age of 7.5 days and treatment with dexamethasone began at 8.5 days. Seven of the 10 subjects had at least 2 days of conservative treatment (lowered mean airway pressure) preceding dexamethasone during which the mean airway pressure (MAP), oxygenation index (OI) and mechanical ventilation index (MVI) were not significantly different although within 3 days of dexamethasone each variable improved significantly (p < 0.05). ⋯ Nine of the 10 infants survived to term. Three days of dexamethasone was associated with significant clinical improvement in most of these infants. The mechanism may relate to reduced airway oedema and inflammation and reduced airway obstruction.