Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves to generate images of the organs in the body. MRI does not involve X-rays or the use of ionizing radiation, which distinguishes it from computed tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography (PET) scans. MRI is a medical application of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) which can also be used for imaging in other NMR applications, such as NMR spectroscopy.
Meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS) also known as neonatal aspiration of meconium is a medical condition affecting newborn infants. It describes the spectrum of disorders and pathophysiology of newborns born in meconium-stained amniotic fluid (MSAF) and have meconium within their lungs. Therefore, MAS has a wide range of severity depending on what conditions and complications develop after parturition. Furthermore, the pathophysiology of MAS is multifactorial and extremely complex which is why it is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in term infants.
In medicine, a side effect is an effect, whether therapeutic or adverse, that is unintended; although the term is predominantly employed to describe adverse effects, it can also apply to beneficial, but unintended, consequences of the use of a drug.
Bronchiolitis is inflammation of the small airways in the lungs. Acute bronchiolitis is due to a viral infection usually affecting children younger than two years of age. Symptoms may include fever, cough, runny nose, wheezing, and breathing problems. More severe cases may be associated with nasal flaring, grunting, or the skin between the ribs pulling in with breathing. If the child has not been able to feed properly, signs of dehydration may be present.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), also called human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV) and human orthopneumovirus, is a common, contagious virus that causes infections of the respiratory tract. It is a negative-sense, single-stranded RNA virus. Its name is derived from the large cells known as syncytia that form when infected cells fuse.
Infantile respiratory distress syndrome (IRDS), also called respiratory distress syndrome of newborn, or increasingly surfactant deficiency disorder (SDD), and previously called hyaline membrane disease (HMD), is a syndrome in premature infants caused by developmental insufficiency of pulmonary surfactant production and structural immaturity in the lungs. It can also be a consequence of neonatal infection and can result from a genetic problem with the production of surfactant-associated proteins.
Liquid breathing is a form of respiration in which a normally air-breathing organism breathes an oxygen-rich liquid (such as a perfluorocarbon), rather than breathing air, by selecting a liquid that can hold a large amount of oxygen and is capable of CO2 gas exchange.
Perinatal asphyxia is the medical condition resulting from deprivation of oxygen to a newborn infant that lasts long enough during the birth process to cause physical harm, usually to the brain. It remains a serious condition which causes significant mortality and morbidity. It is also the inability to establish and sustain adequate or spontaneous respiration upon delivery of the newborn, an emergency condition that requires adequate and quick resuscitation measures. Perinatal asphyxia is also an oxygen deficit from the 28th week of gestation to the first seven days following delivery. It is also an insult to the fetus or newborn due to lack of oxygen or lack of perfusion to various organs and may be associated with a lack of ventilation. In accordance with WHO, perinatal asphyxia is characterised by: profound metabolic acidosis, with a pH less than 7.20 on umbilical cord arterial blood sample, persistence of an Apgar score of 3 at the 5th minute, clinical neurologic sequelae in the immediate neonatal period, or evidence of multiorgan system dysfunction in the immediate neonatal period. Hypoxic damage can occur to most of the infant's organs, but brain damage is of most concern and perhaps the least likely to quickly or completely heal. In more pronounced cases, an infant will survive, but with damage to the brain manifested as either mental, such as developmental delay or intellectual disability, or physical, such as spasticity.
Antenatal steroids, also known as antenatal corticosteroids, are medications administered to pregnant women expecting a preterm birth. When administered, these steroids accelerate the maturation of the fetus' lungs, which reduces the likelihood of infant respiratory distress syndrome and infant mortality. The effectiveness of this corticosteroid treatment on humans was first demonstrated in 1972 by Sir Graham Liggins and Ross Howie, during a randomized control trial using betamethasone.
An analeptic, in medicine, is a central nervous system stimulant. The term "analeptic" typically refers to respiratory analeptics. Analeptics are central nervous system (CNS) stimulants that include a wide variety of medications used to treat depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and respiratory depression. Analeptics can also be used as convulsants, with low doses causing patients to experience heightened awareness, restlessness, and rapid breathing. The primary medical use of these drugs is as an anesthetic recovery tool or to treat emergency respiratory depression. Other drugs of this category are prethcamide, pentylenetetrazole, and nikethamide. Nikethamide is now withdrawn due to risk of convulsions. Analeptics have recently been used to better understand the treatment of a barbiturate overdose. Through the use of agents, researchers were able to treat obtundation and respiratory depression.
Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) is a phospholipid (and a lecithin) consisting of two C16 palmitic acid groups attached to a phosphatidylcholine head-group.
Tyloxapol is a nonionic liquid polymer of the alkyl aryl polyether alcohol type. It is used as a surfactant to aid liquefaction and removal of mucopurulent bronchopulmonary secretions, administered by inhalation through a nebulizer or with a stream of oxygen.
Palivizumab, sold under the brand name Synagis, is a monoclonal antibody produced by recombinant DNA technology used to prevent severe disease caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections. It is recommended for infants at high-risk for RSV due to conditions such as prematurity or other medical problems including heart or lung diseases.
Wilson–Mikity syndrome, a form of chronic lung disease (CLD) that exists only in premature infants, leads to progressive or immediate development of respiratory distress. This rare condition affects low birth babies and is characterized by rapid development of lung emphysema after birth, requiring prolonged ventilation and oxygen supplementation. It is closely related to bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), differing mainly in the lack of prior ventilatory support. All the initial patients described with Wilson–Mikity syndrome were very low birth weight infants that had no history of mechanical ventilation, yet developed a syndrome that clinically resembled BPD. Upon the death of some of these infants, autopsies showed histologic changes similar to those seen in BPD.
MRI contrast agents are contrast agents used to improve the visibility of internal body structures in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The most commonly used compounds for contrast enhancement are gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs). Such MRI contrast agents shorten the relaxation times of nuclei within body tissues following oral or intravenous administration.
A liquid ventilator is similar to a medical ventilator except that it should be able to ensure reliable total liquid ventilation with a breatheable liquid ·. Liquid ventilators are prototypes that may have been used for animal experimentations but experts recommend continued development of a liquid ventilator toward clinical applications.
Lucinactant is a liquid medication used to treat infant respiratory distress syndrome. It is a pulmonary surfactant for infants who lack enough natural surfactant in their lungs. Whereas earlier medicines of the class, such as beractant, calfactant (Infasurf), and poractant (Curosurf), are derived from animals, lucinactant is synthetic. It was approved for use in the United States by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on March 6, 2012.
Heated humidified high-flow therapy, often simply called high flow therapy, is a type of respiratory support that delivers a flow of medical gas to a patient of up to 60 liters per minute and 100% oxygen through a large bore or high flow nasal cannula. Primarily studied in neonates, it has also been found effective in some adults to treat hypoxemia and work of breathing issues. The key components of it are a gas blender, heated humidifier, heated circuit, and cannula.
ENA-001 is a drug related to almitrine which acts as a respiratory stimulant, with its mechanism of action primarily thought to involve blocking the BKCa potassium channel, although secondary mechanisms may also be involved. It was developed by Galleon Pharmaceuticals, and is being tested in clinical trials for potential uses in post-operative care, as well as more generally to counteract the respiratory depression which can be a side effect of opioid analgesic drugs.
Henry Lewis Halliday was a British-Irish peaditrician and neonatologist. In 2021, Halliday was awarded the James Spence Medal for research into neonatology, for coordinating two of the largest neonatal multicentre trials for prevention and treatment of a number of neonatal respiratory illnesses and for a breakthrough in the development of a new lung surfactant that brought relief to very small babies suffering from infant respiratory distress syndrome (RDS).
