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Treatment of respiratory failure in preterms
Is nitric oxide effective in preterm infants?
Neonatal Unit, Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, UK
Correspondence to:
Nimish Subhedar, Neonatal Unit, Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool L8 7SS, UK
Accepted 14 March 2007
There is insufficient evidence to support the routine use of inhaled nitric oxide in preterms with respiratory failure
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Inhaled nitric oxide is a selective pulmonary vasodilator used to treat neonates with respiratory failure. The first reports of its use were published in 1991 and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved its use in the USA in 1999. However, it has only relatively recently received regulatory approval in Europe for use in hypoxaemic respiratory failure associated with pulmonary hypertension in neonates 
34 weeks’ gestation. Inhaled nitric oxide is often used outside the licensed indication (off-label) in preterm neonates.
Three randomised controlled trials investigating the efficacy of inhaled nitric oxide in preterm infants have been published recently.1–3 This article reviews the evidence base for the use of inhaled nitric oxide in the preterm population in the light of these new studies.
Inhaled nitric oxide is potentially beneficial in preterm infants for two main reasons. First, it may improve gas exchange in infants with
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Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2007 92: F329.[Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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