The use of nitric oxide therapy in the transport of newborns with persistent pulmonary hypertension

Abstract

Persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN), sometimes known as persistence of the fetal circulation, originally was reported in 1969 by Gersony, 1 Goldsmith JP Karotkin EH Assisted ventilation of the neonate. 3rd ed. W.B. Saunders, Philadelphia1996 Google Scholar who described infants with persistent characteristics of fetal circulation in the absence of recognizable cardiac, pulmonary, hematologic, or central nervous system disease. In newborns with PPHN, the normal cardiorespiratory changes at birth do not occur. This lapse, in turn, leads to suprasystemic pulmonary artery pressures, resulting in a right to left shunting of blood through the patent ductus arteriosus, the foramen ovale, or both.