Biomaterial Database

[Physiology and pathophysiology of postnatal pulmonary adaptation. 2: Pathophysiology]. 1991

H Schwartze

Institut für Pathologische Physiologie, Universität Leipzig.

Subject of this review is the pathophysiology of the respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), the apnea, and the sudden-death infant syndrome (SIDS). The fatality rate of the RDS yet amounts to 24%. Preterm infants are preferably involved because of their deficient surfactant synthesis. The lack of surfactant causes atelectases, hyaline membranes, lung oedema, and augmentation of respiration work. Only towards the very end of gestation the amount of surfactant of the fetal lung increases rapidly so that the normal postnatal respiration is guaranteed. RDS produces a pathological circulatory situation with insufficiency of the right heart and congestion. The atrial natriuretic hormone is increased about tenfold in the serum of RDS-infants. Modern treatment of the RDS uses instillations of exogenous surfactants before the first breath. Apneic attacks are observed predominantly during REM-sleep. They seem to have pathological value only if they exceed 15 seconds. Infants with recurrent apnoea breathe periodically, they were mostly preterm newborns. Probably, the cause of recurrent apneic attacks are central regulatory deficits and adenosine may play an important pathological role as neurotransmitter. Arrhythmias of the heart including the QT-syndrome observed in SIDS-infants at risk may have the same central pathophysiological source.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007223	Infant	A child between 1 and 23 months of age.	Infants
D007231	Infant, Newborn	An infant during the first 28 days after birth.	Neonate,Newborns,Infants, Newborn,Neonates,Newborn,Newborn Infant,Newborn Infants
D007234	Infant, Premature	A human infant born before 37 weeks of GESTATION.	Neonatal Prematurity,Premature Infants,Preterm Infants,Infant, Preterm,Infants, Premature,Infants, Preterm,Premature Infant,Prematurity, Neonatal,Preterm Infant
D008168	Lung	Either of the pair of organs occupying the cavity of the thorax that effect the aeration of the blood.	Lungs
D011652	Pulmonary Circulation	The circulation of the BLOOD through the LUNGS.	Pulmonary Blood Flow,Respiratory Circulation,Circulation, Pulmonary,Circulation, Respiratory,Blood Flow, Pulmonary,Flow, Pulmonary Blood,Pulmonary Blood Flows
D011654	Pulmonary Edema	Excessive accumulation of extravascular fluid in the lung, an indication of a serious underlying disease or disorder. Pulmonary edema prevents efficient PULMONARY GAS EXCHANGE in the PULMONARY ALVEOLI, and can be life-threatening.	Wet Lung,Edema, Pulmonary,Edemas, Pulmonary,Pulmonary Edemas,Lung, Wet,Lungs, Wet,Wet Lungs
D011663	Pulmonary Surfactants	Substances and drugs that lower the SURFACE TENSION of the mucoid layer lining the PULMONARY ALVEOLI.	Surfactants, Pulmonary,Pulmonary Surfactant,Surfactant, Pulmonary
D012127	Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn	A condition of the newborn marked by DYSPNEA with CYANOSIS, heralded by such prodromal signs as dilatation of the alae nasi, expiratory grunt, and retraction of the suprasternal notch or costal margins, mostly frequently occurring in premature infants, children of diabetic mothers, and infants delivered by cesarean section, and sometimes with no apparent predisposing cause.	Infantile Respiratory Distress Syndrome,Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome,Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Infant
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001049	Apnea	A transient absence of spontaneous respiration.	Apneas