Respiratory distress syndrome in newborns

[Dorothey Allen]

Respiratory distress syndrome is a lung disorder in premature newborns in which the air sacs in their lungs do not remain open because a substance that coats the air sacs called surfactant is missing or insufficient.

Premature newborns and newborns whose mother had diabetes while pregnant are at increased risk of developing respiratory distress syndrome.
Affected infants have severe difficulty breathing and may appear blue because of a lack of oxygen in the blood.
The diagnosis is based on presence of breathing trouble, oxygen levels in the blood, and chest x-ray results.
If low oxygen levels in the blood cannot be improved with treatment, the syndrome may cause brain damage or death.
If the fetus will be born prematurely, the mother may be given a corticosteroid by injection to speed up the fetus’s production of surfactant.
Oxygen is given, continuous positive airway pressure can be used to keep the air sacs open, and a ventilator may be necessary if breathing becomes too difficult for the newborn.
Treatment with synthetic surfactant given into the newborn’s windpipe can provide the surfactant that is missing until newborns start producing enough of their own surfactant.

(See also Overview of General Problems in Newborns.)
Respiratory distress is trouble breathing. For newborns to be able to breathe easily, the air sacs (alveoli) in the lungs must be able to remain open and filled with air. Normally, the lungs produce a substance called surfactant. Surfactant coats the surface of the air sacs, where it lowers the surface tension. Low surface tension allows the air sacs to remain open throughout the respiratory cycle.
Usually, the fetus begins producing surfactant at around 24 weeks of pregnancy. By between 34 weeks and 36 weeks of pregnancy, there is enough surfactant in the fetus