Surfactant treatment for acute respiratory distress syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: To determine prospectively the efficacy of surfactant in acute respiratory distress syndrome. STUDY DESIGN: Twenty patients, 1 month to 16 years of age, diagnosed with an acute pulmonary disease with severe hypoxaemia (PaO2/FiO2 < 100) (13 with systemic or pulmonary disease and seven with cardiac disease) were treated with one to six doses of 50-200 mg/kg of porcine surfactant administered directly into the trachea. The surfactant was considered to be effective when the PaO2/FiO2 improved by > 20%. RESULTS: After initial surfactant administration the PaO2/FiO2 increased significantly in patients with systemic or pulmonary disease from 68 to 111, and the oxygenation index (OI) diminished significantly from 36.9 to 27.1. The PaO2/FiO2 and OI did not improve in children with cardiac disease. The improvement of the patients who survived was greater than that of those who died. CONCLUSIONS: Surfactant moderately improves oxygenation in some children with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome secondary to pulmonary or systemic disease.