ABSTRACT
The study included 45 infants comprised the material of the work, 15 cases of preterm infants with RDS, 15 full term neonates without RDS as a control group. The cases and control group were subjected to a complete history taking, a full clinical examination and laboratory investigations, including venous blood analysis for plasma sodium, potassium, chlorides, urea and creatinine as well as arterial blood for pH, PaO2, PaCO2, bicarbonate, O2 saturation and base deficit or excess. In comparison with control group the results of this study were 20% of preterm cases had suffered from marked acidosis, and 66.6% had moderate acidosis, while 13.3% had mild acidosis. There is a statistical significance as regard pH and base deficit white highly significances as regard PaCO2, PaO2 and O2 saturation but border line significance as regard bicarbonate group of full term with RDS. Only 13.3% had severe acidosis and 60% had moderate acidosis while 26.7% had mild acidosis, there is highly significance as regard pH, PaCO2 PaO2 and O2 saturation, while the bicarbonate and base deficit showed only significant difference. Hyponatremia was evident in all cases with RDS. On other hand, hyperkalemia was seen in both preterm and full term cases with mean values reached up to 7.20 m mol/L and 7.13 m mol/L respectively. Blood urea was markedly elevated in both preterm and full term infants, the mean values were 67.66 mg/dl and 67 mg/dl respectively. Serum creatinine was also elevated, mean values were 2.33 mg/dl and 2.22 mg/dl for preterm and full term respectively