Artificial reconstituted pulmonary surfactant in prevention and treatment of respiratory distress syndrome in neonates.

AIM

To test an artificial reconstituted pulmonary surfactant (APS) for prevention and treatment of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS).

METHODS

A membrane-formed method combined with supersonic dispersing was used to prepare APS. A pulsating bubble surface tension measurement was established to compare surface properties of APS with natural pulmonary surfactant (NPS). A preliminary clinical trial was made for prevention and treatment of RDS.

RESULTS

The APS reduced surface tension from 44.0 mN/m to < 1.0 mN/m in vitro. The changes of APS lipid contents were < 5% of labeled content at 37 degrees C. Clinical trial showed that the APS prevented RDS in 20/20 and cured RDS in 2/2 premature neonates.

CONCLUSION

The APS had good surface properties similar to NPS.