Related Experiment Videos
Pulmonary hypertension in the newborn
Anne Greenough1, Babita Khetriwal
1Division of Asthma, Allergy and Lung Biology, Department of Child Health, Guy's, King's, and St Thomas's School of Medicine, King's College London, UK. anne.greenough@kcl.ac.uk
Paediatric Respiratory Reviews
|May 25, 2005
Summary
Pulmonary hypertension in newborns causes low oxygen due to heart shunts. While inhaled nitric oxide helps reduce extracorporeal membrane oxygenation needs, more research is needed for other vasodilators.
Area of Science:
- Neonatology
- Pediatric Cardiology
- Respiratory Medicine
Background:
- Pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PHN) affects 1.9 per 1000 live births.
- Infants experience hypoxemia due to right-to-left shunts via the ductus arteriosus and foramen ovale.
- PHN can be primary or secondary to conditions like intrapartum asphyxia, infection, pulmonary hypoplasia, congenital heart disease, or drug therapy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the current understanding and treatment strategies for pulmonary hypertension of the newborn.
- To evaluate the efficacy of existing therapies and identify areas for future research.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of studies on pulmonary hypertension of the newborn.
- Analysis of treatment outcomes, including inhaled nitric oxide and other vasodilators.
Main Results:
- Inhaled nitric oxide reduced the need for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in term/near-term infants but did not impact mortality.
- Preliminary data suggest inhaled vasodilators may improve oxygenation.
Conclusions:
- Rigorous evaluation of treatment strategies for PHN is limited.
- Further well-designed trials with long-term outcome data are necessary to assess novel vasodilator therapies for PHN.