The Surfactant System of the Lung: Prevention and Treatment of Neonatal and Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Front Matter....Pages i-xviii
Gene structure of the pulmonary surfactant proteins SP-A, SP-B and SP-C....Pages 1-6
Pulmonary surfactant-associated proteins: their role in surface tension reduction....Pages 7-17
Mesenchymal-epithelial interactions during late fetal lung development....Pages 18-22
Effects of corticosteroids on fetal lung maturation....Pages 23-27
Biological approaches to the prevention of RDS....Pages 28-33
Surfactant disorders in infants and vitamin D deficiency....Pages 34-38
Relevance of surfactant inactivation by anti-surfactant antibodies to the evaluation of therapies for neonatal RDS....Pages 39-48
Risk factors for RDS in preterm newborns....Pages 49-56
Development, indication and present status of ‘late’ amniocentesis in pregnancy....Pages 57-63
Determination of fetal lung maturity by the comparison of one-dimensional L/S ratio, enzymatic lecithin and S/A ratio....Pages 64-68
Antenatal glucocorticoid treatment in the prevention of neonatal RDS....Pages 69-73
Induction of fetal pulmonary maturity with Ambroxol: side effects and therapeutic effectiveness....Pages 74-80
The combination of betamethasone and Ambroxol for the prophylaxis of neonatal RDS....Pages 81-85
Prevention of HMD and survival in low-birth-weight infants....Pages 86-90
RDS and the use of corticosteroids....Pages 91-95
Surfactant function: is it influenced by artificial ventilation?....Pages 96-106
Experiences with Curosurf in Europe....Pages 107-111
Further experiences with Curosurf in Europe....Pages 112-121
Curosurf for therapy in neonatal RDS: an Italian randomized clinical trial....Pages 122-127
Early experiences with Curosurf therapy for severe neonatal RDS....Pages 128-130
Preliminary results in the use of a natural surfactant (Curosurf) in four infants with severe RDS....Pages 131-138
Incidence and outcome of persistent ductus arteriosus in premature babies treated with surfactant for severe RDS....Pages 139-141
The effect of natural porcine surfactant (Curosurf) on the phagocytosis-associated functions of human neutrophils....Pages 142-150
Surfactant replacement in severe RDS: effects of perinatal acidosis on therapeutic response....Pages 151-155
Surfactant therapy and IgE levels in the neonatal period....Pages 156-158
Pulmonary function in mechanically ventilated surfactant-treated preterm infants....Pages 159-167
Development of antioxidant defences in preterm infants....Pages 168-174
A computerized method of pulmonary function evaluation in preterm infants....Pages 175-176
Pharmacotherapy in bronchopulmonary dysplasia....Pages 177-182
Pathophysiology of adult RDS....Pages 183-190
Pulmonary epithelial permeability in adult RDS....Pages 191-197
Respiratory emergencies and supplementary surfactant in the treatment of severe RDS in leukaemic adolescents....Pages 198-206
Adult RDS: its possible role in burn disease—a case report....Pages 207-211
Back Matter....Pages 213-216