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Respiratory Failure in Infants Weighing 1000 g or Less at Birth
Author(s) -
YU V. Y. H.,
HOLLINGSWORTH E.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1754.1979.tb01214.x
Subject(s) - medicine , bronchopulmonary dysplasia , pediatrics , respiratory failure , continuous positive airway pressure , pneumothorax , ventilation (architecture) , mechanical ventilation , weaning , gestational age , anesthesia , surgery , pregnancy , mechanical engineering , genetics , engineering , obstructive sleep apnea , biology
Yu, V. Y. H., and Hollingsworth, E. (1979).Aust. Paediatr. J. , 15, 152–159. Respiratory failure in Infants weighing 1000 g or less at birth. The prognosis for infants weighing <1000 g has improved coincident with the improved ventilatory support in their neonatal management. There are many problems leading to respiratory failure which are particularly significant and peculiar to these infants. Of the 55 infants weighing <1000 g admitted in 1977 and 1978, 58% had hyaline membrane disease and 69% had preterm recurrent apnoea. Fifty‐one infants required assisted ventilation, or whom 28 were ventilated from birth. Though these infants could be ventilated successfully with low peak airway and positive end‐expiratory pressures, 52% of the ventilated infants required it for more than seven days, despite the use of intermittent mandatory ventilation and continuous positive airway pressure during weaning. The neonatal survival rate for assisted ventilation in infants weighing <1000 g was 57%. Seventeen of the ventilated infants developed pulmonary interstitial emphysema, a condition which was associated with an increased incidence of pneumothorax (four infants) and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (ten infants). Infants recovering from bronchopulmonary dysplasia required up to 76 days of assisted ventilation and 84 days of oxygen therapy. No major handicaps were detected on follow‐up except for one infant with retrolental fibroplasia. Optimal management of respiratory failure in infants weighing <1000 g can now result in increased survival with morbidity approaching those of larger preterm infants. As our knowledge, skills, techniques and equipment continue to improve, so will survival and morbidity rates.