Respiratory Physiology of Newborn Mammals: A Comparative Perspective emphasizes common trends among mammalian species in an effort to extract general rules about both the structure and the mechanisms of neonatal respiration. Jacopo P. Mortola outlines the key aspects of developmental respiratory physiology in the perinatal period. Based on what is learned from interspecies comparisons, Mortola addresses the question of how pulmonary ventilation fulfills the metabolic requirements of the newborn infant. Exceptions to the rules illuminate adaptations to particular tasks or conditions. Each chapter concludes with interspecies comparisons and clinical implications for the medically or zoologically oriented reader. The combination of developmental and comparative perspectives offers an original contribution to the field of developmental physiology. The book is divided into five chapters: "Gestation and Birth," Metabolic and Ventilatory Requirements," "Mechanical Behavior of the Respiratory Pump," "Reflex Control of the Breathing Pattern," and "Changes in Temperature and Respiratory Gases." It will be of value to researchers, clinicians, and students interested in developmental physiology, comparative biology, and zoology, as well as neonatalogists and pediatric pulmonologists who are interested in alternative perspectives on current clinical practice.

This text analyses the pathophysiology, diagnosis, treatment and control of respiratory disorders in the newborn infant. It explores the mechanisms, patterns and factors influencing respiratory activity and dysfunction, as well as the aetiology, management and evaluation of conditions such as respiratory distress syndrome, bronchopulmonary dysplasi

Lung disease affects more than 600 million people worldwide. While some of these lung diseases have an obvious developmental component, there is growing appreciation that processes and pathways critical for normal lung development are also important for postnatal tissue homeostasis and are dysregulated in lung disease. This book provides an authoritative review of fetal and neonatal lung development and is designed to provide a diverse group of scientists, spanning the basic to clinical research spectrum, with the latest developments on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of normal lung development and injury-repair processes, and how they are dysregulated in disease. The book covers genetics, omics, and systems biology as well as new imaging techniques that are transforming studies of lung development. The reader will learn where the field of lung development has been, where it is presently, and where it is going in order to improve outcomes for patients with common and rare lung diseases.

L. B. STRANG The past 25 years have seen a remarkable growth in our knowledge of lung development in its structural, physiological and biochemical dimensions. Much of the impetus for research leading to new knowledge has derived from the perception that many respiratory disorders in the newborn infant are due to defective development or maladaption of some component or components of the respiratory system. Thus, to cite one example, surfac tant deficiency is clearly seen to be the cause of atelectasis in hyaline mem brane disease; and to cite another, it is widely accepted that the mechanisms controlling patency of the ductus arteriosus and pulmonary vascular resistance also determine the right-to-Ieft or left-to-right shunting frequently observed in the course of neonatal respiratory disorders. There are, however, areas of physiological knowledge - such as those relating to respiratory control and to liquid formation and absorption - which are clearly of great relevance to lung adaptation at birth but where it has not yet proved possible to link a specific clinical state to the malfunction of a particular mechanism. In planning this symposium an attempt was made to organize the material in an orderly manner, starting with the embryonic and fetal stages of growth and development, continuing with respiratory control and the role of surfactant in lung aeration at birth, and ending with the treatment of neonatal respiratory disorders.

"Studies of the onset of breathing and the pattern of breathing at 10 min, 60 min, 90 min, and a few days after birth have been made in infants delivered by cesarean section and vaginally. The pattern of breathing at birth is irregular. The largest contribution to the formation of functional residual capacity in the first 30 seconds of life is made by the first breath. The first breath is deeper and slower with a longer expiration than subsequent breaths. The irregularity of the breathing pattern improves from 10 to 90 min after delivery. Breathing frequency remains high in this period (10-90 min) compared to a few days and tidal volume is increased at a few days compared to the early period of life." --