Le surfactant pulmonaire, de la physiologie à la thérapeutique

Abstract

In developed countries, neonatal respiratory distress syndrome represents the leading cause of mortality and morbidity for premature infants. Functional deficiency of pulmonary surfactant secondary to lung immaturity appears as the primary etiological factor of this syndrome. The characterization of the structure function relationships of the pulmonary surfactant components has allowed the introduction and the development of a rational approach for supplementing premature babies with exogenous natural or artificial surfactant. Acceleration of the functional maturation of lung with various compounds may improve the efficiency of this substitutive therapy, and consequently, both these therapeutic approaches should be combined whenever it is possible.