Progress on vitamin A for newborn respiratory distress / 国际儿科学杂志

Chronic lung disease (CLD) of prematurity is the major cause of long-term disability of extremely low birth weight ( ELBW ) premature infants, and it is the most cost consumptive disease in neonatal intensive care unit graduates.Vitamin A plays an important role in the development of premature lung. Nevertheless, premature infants are prone to vitamin A deficiency.Oral supplementation of vitamin A does not alter the incidence of CLD in ELBW infants.Intramuscular administration of vitamin A reduced the incidence of CLD.The treatment is considered painful and this way is not routinely practiced.Vitamin A is systemically bioavailable after intratracheal administration with surfactant in an animal model of newborn respiratory distress.