In this interview with MEDICA-tradefair.com, Dr. Gerhard Pohlmann talks about the risk for lung disease in premature babies, explains why this is so difficult to treat and reveals how an innovative medication dispensing system can improve the treatment.
Dr. Pohlmann, premature babies are especially susceptible to respiratory problems. Why is that?
Dr. Gerhard Pohlmann: They often don't have enough surfactant, which is needed for lung development. To compensate for this deficiency, you usually first try to treat the babies using gentle breathing support until they produce sufficient amounts of surfactant on their own. However, this treatment can actually lead to lung disease or so-called bronchopulmonary dysplasia. To prevent this from happening, the preemies are treated with surfactant. Premature babies are more susceptible to infections because of the breathing support or simply because their immune system is still immature.
Why is it so difficult to treat lung disease in premature babies?
Pohlmann: The problem is that the typical inhalation delivery systems were developed to facilitate direct pulmonary treatment options with medications such as antibiotics for adult patients. However, premature infants don't breathe like adults. They usually breathe very rapidly, while simultaneously exhibiting lower tidal volumes. They also tend to have very short inhalation periods. The ratio here is about one-third inhalation to two-thirds exhalation. That means the depth of breathing and the time the aerosol treatment stays in the lungs is insufficient.