1 Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
TWO PAPERS in this issue add to an impressive list of recent investigations of the pathophysiology of respiratory distress, presumably due to atelectasis with hyaline membranes, in newborn infants.
Such publications do not fully reveal the difficulties involved in getting this significant information. Perhaps first among these is the technical feat of collecting blood and gas samples and measuring pressure changes in critically ill infants. This requires a team accustomed to handling infants and apparatus, and available at all hours. A corollary of good technique is the achievement of these measurements without jeopardizing the condition of the infant. Of secondary importance, but nonetheless significant, is the creation of an enviornment favorable to the performance of investigations on sick infants.