11/13- Intro to Clinical Pedi Cardio-Pulmonary Interactions Flashcards
(44 cards)
Describe transitional circulation in utero
- Oxygenated blood from placenta -> umbilical veins
- Portal sinus into liver
- Ductus venosus shunts around liver (still highly oxygenated)
- Rejoin into IVC -> heart
- Shunted from R atrium into L atrium (foramen ovale)
- Blood that does go to R ventricle/pulmonary a is shutned into aorta through ductus arteriosus
- Systemic circulation out to organs
- Veins collect and form umbilical arteries going back to placenta

Describe transitional circulation/changes after birth
- Foramen ovale closes
- Ductus arteriosus closes
- Ductus venosus closes (?)

What is Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn (PPHN)?
- Consequences
Failure of normal circulatory transition after delivery
- Elevated pulmonary pressures result in right-to-left shunting via extra-pulmonary pathways
- Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO)
- Patent Ductus Arterious (PDA)
What are the most critical signals for successful transition (not PPHN)?
- Distension of the lung (crying/breathing)
- Increase in oxygen tension in the lungs
- Decrease in CO2 tension
How do you recognize PPHN?
- Birth history (how long before crying, activity)
- Low PaO2
- Low sats with discordant pre/post ductal sats
- If ductus arteriosus connects between some of the early aortic branches (i.e. after brachiocephalic going R but before L common carotid and L subclavian), will see oxygen saturation R > L
- Echocardiogram
What is seen here?

Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn (PPHN)
- Only see air (abnormally dark lung fields); no vessel markings
Describe treatment approach to PPHN
- Keep baby well oxygenated (PaO2 values are important)
- Keep pH in normal range (acidosis worsens PPHN)
- Pulmonary vasculature is very sensitive to pH
- Consider increasing systemic blood pressures (dopamine)
- Try to shunt blood into pulmonary system
- Keep baby’s environment quiet/calm, consider sedation
- Consider iNO (inhaled nitric oxide)
- Oxygen is the most potent vasodilator in the lung, but NO is second
What are common newborn lung diseases?
- Transient tachypnea of the newborn (TTN)
- Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS)
- Air leaks
What causes Transient Tachypnea of the Newborn (TTN)?
- Most common cause of what
- Risk factors for TTN
Caused by retained fetal lung fluid (RFLF)
- The fetal lung is a secretory organ in utero (secretions produce pressure that allow lungs to grow)
- Sidenote: babies with renal hypoplasia who are not peeing/contributing to amniotic fluid have decreased external P and are losing lung secretions contributing to pulmonary hypoplasia
Most common cause of respiratory distress in newborns
Risk Factors for TTN
- Premature delivery
- Elective c-section delivery (no labor)
- Labor signals fetus to stop secreting fluid
- Precipitous delivery
- Delayed clamping of umbilical cord
- Maternal diabetes
- Maternal sedation
What are TTN findings on CXR?
- Normal inflation
- “Streaky” or “sunburst” pattern of linear densities emanating from the hilum (fluid in the fissure)
- Occasionally, fluffy densities from alveolar flooding are present
What is seen here?

Transient Tachypnea of the Newborn (TTN)
- Sharp line in middleish of right lung on left picture is fluid in fissure (big sign of TTN)
- White puffy area of fluid of right lung on right picture are just puddles of lung fluid
How is TTN diagnosed?
- Diagnosis of exclusion
- Be sure to rule out pulmonary HTN
- Self-resolving disease (will reabsorb lung fluid)
- Oxygen need highest initially, then decreases progressively (does not present days after delivery)
- Oxygen need rarely exceeds 40%
- Positive pressure usually not required (TTN is present at birth/presents within an hour or so; not something that shows up later! Think something else)
What is Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS)?
- Aka
- Caused by
- Incidence
- Also called Hyaline Membrane Disease (HMD)
- Due to Surfactant deficiency
- Incidence: ~40,000 infants/year
- 60-80% of infants born < 28 weeks (pre-steroid estimates; with steroids, you have increased fetal ability to produce surfactant)
What is surfactant?
- Composition
- Synthesis begins when
- Produced by what cells
- What affects maturation of cell line
- 75% phospholipid, 10% protein
- Synthesis begins at 24-28 weeks gestation
- Why “edge of viability” is around 23 wks
- Produced by Type II Pneumocytes
- Maturation of cell line is:
- Delayed by fetal hyperinsulinemia and
- Enhanced by chronic stress (e.g. babies of drug using mothers may actually have more mature lungs)
How does surfactant work?
- Without surfactant, there is progressive cellular damage from ventilation of collapsed alveoli
- Damage causes eosinophilic exudative proteinaceous material (HMD)
- Fibrosis occurs and lung scars down, leading to poor oxygen transport
- Surfactant maintains alveolar expansion by decreasing surface tension
- Increases compliance
- Improves oxygen transport through membrane
What are RDS findings on CXR?
- Low lung volumes (since no surfactant to allow good compliance)
- Visible air bronchograms
- Lung “texture”
- Fine
- Homogeneous (unlike TTN)
- Granular
- Ground-glass
What is seen here?

Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS)
- Fine, homogeneous granular appearance
What are treatment methods/goals for RDS?
- Surfactant administration via ETT (endotracheal tube)
- There is a limit; too many doses can cause particulates of surfactant and “junky lung”
- Maintain optimal tidal volume in the face of changing compliance to ensure lung is not damaged
- Prevent alveoli from collapsing; use PEEP (peak end expiratory pressure)
- Re-dose surfactant as needed (up to 3 times)
- Extubate as soon as possible (ventilator may damage lungs)
Describe the physiology of air leaks
- Occurs when there is over distention, air trapping, or uneven distribution of gas
- Rupture of an over-distended alveolus
- Air dissects along the perivascular connective tissue sheath
Where are air leaks located anatomically?
- Pneumothorax: presence of air or gas in the pleural cavity (ie, the potential space between the viscera and parietal pleura of the lung)
- Pneumomediastinum: gas in the mediastinal tissues that can occur when air leaks through small alveolar ruptures to the surrounding bronchovascular sheath
- Pulmonary interstitial emphysema (PIE): air trapped and tracking along perivascular/peribronchial tissues of the lung (doesn’t go anywhere; doesn’t collect in pleural cavity or mediastinum; remains peribronchial)
What is seen here?

Air leak: pneumothorax
What is seen here?

Air leak: pneumomediastinum
- On left: thymus being raised due to air arround the heart
What is seen here?

Air leak: Pulmonary interstitial emphysema (PIE)
What is the therapeutic approach to air leaks?
It depends on the type of air leak
- No intervention if not causing clinical deterioration
- Thoracosentesis/”needle” evacuation of air for penumothorax or pneumomediastinum
- Chest tube for persistent pneumothorax
- High Frequency Oscillatory Ventilation (HFOV) for PIE
- Tiny TVs at very high rate (Can’t use needle to evacuate PIE air)










