suppose youre a physician treating an infant with respiratory distress syndrome?

Question

your intervention to effect relief of the baby s symptoms will involve (a)alveolar macrophages(b)an artificial surfactant(c)antibiotics(d)oxygen

Answer 1

'B' artificial surfactant. Premature babies often don't produce enough surfactant. Without surfactant, airway resistance increases and it becomes more difficult to breathe.

Answer 2

The answer is b, an artificial surfactant

Medline (web site below) says: Respiratory distress syndrome affects 10% of all premature infants. It rarely affects those born full-term.

The disease occurs when the lungs lack a chemical that helps them inflate with air and keeps the air sacs from collapsing. This chemical, called lung surfactant, normally appears in mature lungs.

The lack of this chemical causes the air sacs to collapse and prevents the child from breathing properly. Symptoms usually appear shortly after birth and slowly become more severe.

Risk factors are prematurity, diabetes in the mother, and delivery complications that lead to acidosis in the newborn at birth.