[Studies into aetiology of hyaline membrane disease (author's transl)]

The courses of gestation were re-examined of 171 newborns who had died of hyaline membrane disease. Premature births accounted for 91.81 per cent of the cases reviewed, while 73.24 per cent had undergone gestation between 28 and 32 weeks of pregnancy. Premature placental detachment, hydramnion, and twin pregnancy were among the major factors contributive to gestational complications. Perinatal asphyxia played a substantive role in 53.21 per cent of all cases under review. In newborns delivered on term the development of RDS was in almost all cases attributable to acidosis. Early complications were analysed for newborns involved in steroid prophylaxis. The frequency of cerebral haemorrhage was nearly identical with findings recorded from a control group. A significant difference was not even recorded from cases of inflammatory complications.