Early treatment of idiopathic respiratory distress syndrome using binasal continuous positive airway pressure.
During a 3-year period (1979-81) 85 premature infants with idiopathic respiratory distress (IRDS) were treated early with an easily applicable light-weight CPAP-system with a binasal tube and a gas jet. We used conservative criteria for ventilator treatment. The treatment proved sufficient in 18 out of 25 infants with a birth weight less than or equal to 1500 g and in 53 out of 60 infants with a birth weight greater than 1500 g. Seven infants developed pneumothorax during CPAP treatment. Seventy-four infants survived, all without bronchopulmonary dysplasia. At the age of 1.5-4.5 years the incidence of respiratory tract infections did not differ from that in a group of siblings; and the incidence of lower respiratory tract infections was low compared to previous studies. With the criteria used, early CPAP proved effective in the majority of infants with IRDS.
Kamper
J
J
Department of Pediatrics, Odense University Hospital, Denmark.
Ringsted
C
C
D001724:Birth Weight; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009666:Nose; D011030:Pneumothorax / Q000209:etiology; D011175:Positive-Pressure Respiration / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D011379:Prognosis; D012127:Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D013997:Time Factors