More about Surfactant, Oxygen, Caffeine and Chronic Lung Disease

medicine. Máximo Vento’s review dealt with the practical issues raised in Ola D. Saugstad’s 4th Bengt Robertson Lecture in 2012 [1] . Since the Resair 2 study was published in the late 1990s [2] , experimental and clinical research on oxygen metabolism and toxicity in the neonatal period have grown exponentially. This body of evidence is helping us to develop more appropriate ways of both supplementing and monitoring oxygen in the newborn [3, 4] , in order to obtain the best possible clinical outcomes while minimizing shortand long-term morbidities [5] . Máximo Vento concluded that the state-of-theart management of oxygen therapy in the delivery suite consists of allowing preductal oxygen saturation to spontaneously increase in the first minutes of life. If oxygen is needed, it should be titrated according to pulse oximeter readings kept within the standard nomogram. Thereafter, oxygen saturation targets should be maintained in the range of 90–95% for optimal outcomes [3, 4, 6] . Caffeine, the wonder drug in neonatology, was the topic of the lecture given by Dirk Bassler, previously from Tuebingen, Germany, but now based in Zurich, Switzerland. Caffeine, as the title indicates, has proved to be a wonder drug in neonatology. Methylxanthines have been used in neonatology for more than 40 years, but it was not until 2006 that doubts about the safety of caffeine were dispelled [7] . Caffeine’s effectiveness as a stimulator of respiratory drive in apnea of prematurity and weaning from mechanical ventilation were widely recognized before this time. However, the Caffeine for Apnea of PreThe 29th International Workshop on Surfactant Replacement was held in Valencia in Spain from May 30 to 31, 2014. It is with great regret that the Scientific Committee reports the recent death of Adolf Valls-i-Soler (Bilbao, Spain), who regularly attended and contributed to our surfactant workshops for many years. With the meeting being in Spain this year, he would undoubtedly have loved to be present to support our president Máximo Vento. Valencia was founded 2,000 years ago by the Romans, in a privileged location on a large gulf on the Mediterranean, providing the city with a very mild climate, perennial sun and a blue sky. Today, Valencia is a modern university city with over 60,000 students on 3 campuses. The beauty of the city and the friendliness of its inhabitants will surely encourage return visits from visiting delegates. The theme for this year’s Workshop was somewhat less focused than in previous years, with presentations not only on surfactants, oxygen therapy and chronic lung disease but also on the ethical pitfalls in neonatal trials, caffeine treatment and clinical pharmacology as applied to the neonate. The Workshop comprised the 6th Bengt Robertson Memorial Lecture and 5 other excellent overview presentations, 16 orally presented free communications and 28 poster presentations, all selected from a record total of 84 submitted abstracts. The 6th Bengt Robertson Lecture was delivered by Máximo Vento from Valencia, Spain. This review dealt with the new paradigm in the use of oxygen in neonatal Published online: May 30, 2014