Respiratory Distress Syndrome affects a large number of babies in the NICU. To help parents understand why it occurs and what babies are more prone to developing it, we developed a whole podcast episode to it.
To listen to Take a Deep Breath – Diving Into Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Newborns now or read the show notes, click below.
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CastBoxPlease help me understand RDS in newborns.
Respiratory Distress Syndrome or RDS is the most common lung disease in premature infants.
The incidence of respiratory distress syndrome decreases with advancing gestational age, with more severe disease in the smaller, more premature infants. So although it can occur in term neonates, it is much less common. It occurs in 60-80% of infants born at 26-28 weeks compared to only 15-30% for infants born at 32-36 weeks.
Respiratory distress syndrome is due to a deficiency of surfactant, either due to inadequate surfactant production, or surfactant inactivation. Although RDS is more common in preterm infants, it can also affect term infants as well.
The pathophysiology and cascade of events that occur with RDS can be somewhat complicated to understand. To help you follow along with the Podcast or show notes, we developed a free RDS Graphic.
To grab your free RDS graphic, click below.
