Can surfactants affect mortality and morbidity in term infants with respiratory failure?

BACKGROUND: We aimed to discuss term infants who are given surfactant due to respiratory disorder according to the underlying etiology, the dose of surfactant administration, and the need for repeated surfactant administration. METHODS: In this retrospective study infants hospitalized in the 4th level neonatal intensive care unit during January 2019 and December 2021 and administered surfactant due to respiratory distress were included. Term infants given surfactant due to respiratory failure were included in the study through the data recording system. The number of surfactant doses, indications for administration, mortality, duration of hospitalization, intubation time, and inotrope use were recorded in the infants included in the study. RESULTS: : During the two-year period, 1250 infants were hospitalized in our neonatal intensive care unit. Of those, 56 infants received surfactant replacement therapy for severe respiratory failure. There were 30 infants with pneumonia, 4 infants with meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS), and 22 infants with transient tachypnea of the newborn (TTN). It was seen that single-dose administration was higher in patients with TTN (p = 0.01), while multiple-dose surfactant administration was more common in patients with MAS, resulting in a statistical difference (p = 0.02). Mortality was lower, especially in cases given early surfactant administration and this situation was statistically significant (p < 0.001). Duration of intubation was 5.05 ± 4.7 days in early surfactant administration group and 8.0 ± 6.1 days in late surfactant administration group. This difference was statistically significant (p = 0.04). While early surfactant application was statistically higher in the TTN group (p = 0.007), late surfactant application was statistically higher in the pneumonia group (p = 0.001). DISCUSSION: Despite the difference on administration time and repeat dose interval due to etiology, surfactant treatment is improving the respiratory distress of term infants.

Massive pleural effusion on the contralateral side of a venous peripherally inserted central catheter.

A preterm newborn infant, delivered at 30 weeks of gestation and 965 g birth weight, developed respiratory distress with resistant hypoxia after a central catheter line was inserted via the right venae brachialis on postnatal day 21. Left-sided massive pleural effusion, collapsed left lung with air bronchograms, and bidirectional shunting through reopened ductus arteriosus were detected by targeted neonatal echocardiography. Hydrothorax was drained under sonographic guidance, producing a milky-white fluid biochemically compatible with parenteral nutrition. We report this case of hydrothorax secondary to a misplaced central catheter on the contralateral side of its peripheral insertion. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 46:140-144, 2018.