Neonatal diseases II

Net fluid flow in the fetal lung results from an egress of fluid from pulmonary epithelial cells into future airspaces and airways. The flow of fetal lung fluid across the glottis into the amniotic cavity keeps contaminants in the amniotic fluid. Over the last decade, approaches to intrapartum and immediate postpartum prevention of MAS have moved away from attempts to evacuate the upper airway of meconium by obstetricians at delivery of the head and by pediatricians after the delivery is complete. In the late 1960s, Graham Liggins made the seminal observation that lambs exposed in utero to corticosteroids and delivered prematurely had less respiratory distress, more mature appearing lungs, and decreased mortality. An expert panel convened by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in July, 2005, recommended that infants born between 34 0/7 weeks and 36 6/7 weeks of gestation be referred to as late preterm.