Breathing a life-sustaining liquid.The preemie's tiny chest rose and fell with the regularity of a metronome metronome (mĕ`trənōm'), in music, originally pyramid-shaped clockwork mechanism to indicate the exact tempo in which a work is to be performed. It has a double pendulum whose pace can be altered by sliding the upper weight up or down. . Each breath was accompanied by a soft thump, the sound of the mechanical respirator respirator /res·pi·ra·tor/ (res´pi-ra?ter) ventilator (2). cuirass respirator see under ventilator. force-feeding oxygen into the baby's underdeveloped lungs. Without such help, the infant would die. Even with help- which includes treatment with surfactant Surfactant Definition Surfactant is a complex naturally occurring substance made of six lipids (fats) and four proteins that is produced in the lungs. It can also be manufactured synthetically. , a lung lubricant that preemies often lack-the prospects for survival were dim. Then, doctors tried a new treatment: They flooded the infant's lungs with a special lubricant. Within an hour, the oxygen concentration in the infant's lungs more than doubled. Within 4 hours, the high carbon dioxide concentration in its blood fell to normal. Thanks to this oxygen-bearing lubricant, called perflubron, the baby was one of eight to survive a crisis known as surfactant deficiency. Five others were not as lucky. Despite infusions of the liquid, these babies died, researchers report in the Sept. 12 New England Journal of Medicine The New England Journal of Medicine (New Engl J Med or NEJM) is an English-language peer-reviewed medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It is one of the most popular and widely-read peer-reviewed general medical journals in the world. . Nevertheless, the eight successes demonstrate that "partial liquid ventilation leads to clinical improvement and survival in some infants with severe respiratory distress syndrome respiratory distress syndrome or hyaline membrane disease Common complication in newborns, especially after premature birth. Symptoms include very laboured breathing, bluish skin tinge, and low blood oxygen levels. who are not expected to survive," say Corinne Lowe Leach of Children's Hospital and the State University of New York (body) State University of New York - (SUNY) The public university system of New York State, USA, with campuses throughout the state. in Buffalo and her colleagues. Colorless and odorless, perflubron can take the place of surfactant. Like surfactant, perflubron bathes the lungs. But because it carries 25 times as much oxygen as blood plasma does, perflubron helps the lungs exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen. These preliminary findings, the first reported from a 40-center trial of 480 premature babies, indicate that infants on a respirator can be sustained on perflubron for 76 hours. Thereafter, use of the lubricant can be discontinued, and infants can ultimately be shifted to room air. T. Allen Merritt of the University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis, commonly known as UC Davis, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, and was established as the University Farm in 1905. noted in an accompanying editorial that the therapy might also be used to deliver drugs to the airways and thus hasten recovery from serious diseases. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion