Can inhaled prostacyclin stimulate surfactant in ELBW infants?

摘要

Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) causes significant hypoxia in extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants. We report an ELBW infant with RDS and pulmonary hypertension whose hypoxia did not respond to inhaled nitric oxide but improved with inhaled prostacyclin. We propose that inhaled prostacyclin alleviated the hypoxia by stimulating surfactant secretion.