title: Surfactant replacement therapy in extremely low gestational age newborns.
abstract: There is a growing body of evidence over the last years suggesting continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) ventilation being the first choice of ventilatory support in newborns with extremely low gestational age, and early rescue surfactant treatment being as effective as prophylactic therapy. The Intubation Surfactant Extubation procedure is discussed as an alternative procedure that may have the potential to combine the positive effects of surfactant and early CPAP. A further mode of surfactant administration, administration via a thin endotracheal catheter during spontaneous breathing with CPAP, has recently come into clinical use. This less invasive surfactant administration technique shows some short-term benefits but still cannot be recommended for general use in this vulnerable population. Long-term follow-up studies are needed to allow new recommendations on surfactant therapy in this high-risk population.
authors.affiliation: Research Unit for Neonatal Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology, Division of Neonatology, Department of Paediatrics, Medical University of Graz, Austria. Correspondence to: Prof. Dr. Bernhard Resch, Division of Neonatology, Department of Paediatrics, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 34/2, 8036 Graz, Austria. bernhard.resch@medunigraz.at.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eibisberger
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Resch
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Resch
mesh_terms: D045422:Continuous Positive Airway Pressure / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D062071:Infant, Extremely Premature / Q000502:physiology*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012127:Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants