Surfactant and surfactant inhibitors in meconium aspiration syndrome.

Surfactant indices and inhibitors were measured in lung lavage fluid from 8 infants with meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS) who were receiving mechanical ventilation and 11 healthy control subjects. Surfactant phospholipid and surfactant protein A content in MAS was not different from that of control subjects, but concentrations of total protein, albumin, and membrane-derived phospholipid were elevated. All infants with MAS had hemorrhagic pulmonary edema. These findings reinforce the notion of MAS as a toxic pneumonitis with epithelial disruption and proteinaceous exudation.