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Development of ventilatory control in infants

John L Carroll1, Amit Agarwal

  • 1University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Arkansas Children's Hospital, Little Rock, Arkansas 72212, USA. carrolljohnl@uams.edu

Paediatric Respiratory Reviews
|November 27, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Infant ventilatory control abnormalities often stem from immaturity or developmental issues, impacting breathing from birth. Understanding ventilatory control maturation is key to improving infant clinical care.

Area of Science:

  • Neonatal physiology
  • Neurodevelopmental biology
  • Respiratory medicine

Background:

  • Infant breathing control abnormalities range from congenital central hypoventilation syndrome to apnea of prematurity.
  • Ventilatory control system development, including rhythmogenesis and chemoreception, spans gestation and early infancy.
  • Neural development of respiratory control involves intricate gene-environment interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the developmental processes of infant ventilatory control.
  • To highlight the impact of immaturity and postnatal factors on respiratory control.
  • To emphasize the clinical relevance of understanding ventilatory control maturation.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing literature on infant respiratory control development.
  • Analysis of factors influencing the maturation of the ventilatory control system.
  • Synthesis of information on common and rare ventilatory control disorders in infants.

Main Results:

  • Most infant ventilatory control issues arise from immature or abnormal development.
  • Postnatal maturation of breathing control can be negatively affected by stressors like hypoxia.
  • Congenital central hypoventilation syndrome and apnea of prematurity are examples of ventilatory control disorders.

Conclusions:

  • Ventilatory control development is a complex, prolonged process sensitive to genetic and environmental factors.
  • Immature ventilatory control at birth, especially in preterm infants, necessitates careful monitoring.
  • Enhanced clinical care for infants can be achieved through better understanding of ventilatory control maturation and associated disorders.

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