Spirometry in full-term and premature lambs

Abstract

Premature lambs are those born before day 137 of gestation. Animals born with premature lungs have multiple causes for developing respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) and respiratory failure. Surfactant treatment for infants with RDS is used routinely and results in beneficial clinical responses. Prenatal glucocorticoid treatment of fetal sheep results in improvements in oxygenation, gas exchange, lung mechanics, and lung volume after pre-term delivery. Spirometry is a physiological test that measures how an individual inhales or exhales volumes of air as a function of time. The primary signal measured in spirometry may be volume or flow. The minute volume is the amount of air a person or animal breaths in a minute. The minute volume is calculated by the multiplication of the tidal volume (Vt) and the respiratory rate (RR).

The aim of this study was to evaluate respiratory capacity by spirometry in neonatal lambs, and to compare full-term and premature responses.