Treatment of the Idiopathic Respiratory-Distress Syndrome with Continuous Positive Airway Pressure

TLDR

Continuous positive airway pressure was applied to 20 infants with idiopathic respiratory‑distress syndrome, delivered via endotracheal tube in 18 cases and a pressure chamber around the head in 2, with pressures up to 12 mm Hg. CPAP improved arterial oxygen tension, permitting a 37.5 % reduction in inspired oxygen within 12 h, lowered minute ventilation without affecting CO₂, pH, blood pressure or compliance, and yielded a 16‑infant survival rate, including 7 of 10 infants under 1500 g.

Abstract

Abstract We applied a continuous positive airway pressure to 20 infants (birth weight 930 to 3800 g) severely ill with the idiopathic respiratory-distress syndrome. They breathed spontaneously. Pressure, up to 12 mm of mercury, was delivered through an endotracheal tube to 18 infants and via a pressure chamber around the infant's head to two. Arterial oxygen tension rose in all, permitting us to lower the inspired oxygen an average of 37.5 per cent within 12 hours. Minute ventilation decreased with increased continuous positive airway pressure, but this had little effect on arterial carbon dioxide tension, pH, arterial blood pressure and lung compliance. Sixteen infants survived, including seven of 10 weighing less than 1500 g at birth.