PEDIATRICS Vol. 32 No. 5 November 1963, pp. 808-815
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EFFECT OF AMNIOTIC FLUID ASPIRATION ON THE LUNG AND CIRCULATION

H. J. H. Colebatch M.B., M.R.A.C.P.1, D. F. J. Halmagyi M.D., M.R.A.C.P.1, and B. Starzecki B.Sc., M.B.1

1 Department of Medicine, University of Sydney, Sydney, N.S.W., Australia

The administration of 1-2 ml/kg body weight of human amniotic fluid into the trachea of anesthetized sheep caused a gross fall in lung compliance, an increase in resistance to air flow and severe hypoxemia, but only a slight rise in pulmonary arterial pressure. The changes in lung mechanics, and the hypoxemia, were not affected by forced inflation of the lungs; but after atropine sulphate, adrenaline, or aerosol isoproterenol, forced inflation produced marked improvement.

The effects of amniotic fluid aspiration resemble some of the features of the respiratory distress syndrome of the newborn. However, whether sheep amniotic fluid introduced into newborn lamb lungs would have an entirely similar effect remains to be proven.

Submitted on November 1, 1962
Accepted on June 15, 1963