Historical Perspective on Surfactant Therapy: Transforming Hyaline Membrane Disease to Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Lung surfactant is the first drug so far designed for the special needs of the newborn. In 1929, Von Neergard described lung hysteresis and proposed the role of surface forces. In 1955 –1956, Pattle and Clements found direct evidence of lung surfactant. In 1959, Avery discovered that the airway’s lining material was not surface-active in hyaline membrane disease (HMD). Patrick Bouvier Kennedy’s death, among half-million other HMD-victims in 1963, stimulated surfactant resear ch. The first large surfactant treatment trial failed in 1967, but by 1973, prediction of respiratory distress syndrome using surfactant biomarkers and promising data on experimental surfactant treatment were reported.

Source: Seminars in Fetal and Neonatal Medicine - November 21, 2023 Category: Perinatology & Neonatology Authors: Mikko Hallman, Egbert Herting Source Type: research