Physiology of the respiratory system
Pearls • Children younger than 5 years have nearly equal peripheral and central airway resistance. This makes them more susceptible to developing respiratory failure with illnesses that affect the lower…
CRITICAL CARE
Acute viral bronchiolitis
Pearls • Bronchiolitis accounts for 5% to 10% of total pediatric intensive care unit admissions in the United States. • Treatment for critical bronchiolitis is predominantly supportive, particularly for hypoxia,…
Pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome and ventilator-associated lung injury
Pearls • Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a restrictive lung disease with clinical manifestations of hypoxemia, low respiratory system compliance, and new pulmonary infiltrates. Pathologically, ARDS is characterized by…
Ventilation/perfusion inequality
Pearls • Gas exchange is optimized when pulmonary perfusion (Q) and alveolar ventilation (V A ) are tightly matched. The fractal design of the lung and gravitational effects on the…
Noninvasive respiratory monitoring and assessment of gas exchange
Pearls • Pulse oximetry is based on the principles that the pulsatile component of the optical absorbance detected from tissue is primarily from arterial blood and that oxyhemoglobin and reduced…
Structure and development of the lower respiratory system
Pearls • Lungs increase in volume from about 250 mL at birth to 6000 mL in the adult. • Each lung lobe is subdivided into 19 bronchopulmonary segments, which receive…
Overview of breathing failure
Pearls • Three pathways to breathing failure are impaired neural control, failure of the muscles of breathing, and dysfunction of the mechanics of breathing. • Dysfunction of the mechanics of…
Structure and development of the upper respiratory system
Pearls • The structures of the upper airway undergo extensive changes from infancy through young adulthood. An understanding of the numerous variations, congenital anomalies, and resulting special vulnerabilities of the…
Physiologic foundations of cardiopulmonary resuscitation
Pearls • Both the cardiac and thoracic pump mechanisms play a role in infants and children during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Thus, attention to excellent chest compression technique—with an emphasis on “push…
Performance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in infants and children
Pearls • There are four distinct phases of cardiac arrest and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR): prearrest, no-flow (untreated cardiac arrest), low-flow (CPR), and postarrest. • The most common precipitating event for…
