Persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN) is a life-threatening condition. Management of PPHN includes supportive therapies, lung recruitment strategies, and pharmacologic pulmonary vasodilation. This article describes pharmacologic strategies for the management of persistent pulmonary hypertension in newborns. Persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN) is defined as the failure of the normal circulatory transition that occurs after birth.
It is a syndrome characterized by marked pulmonary hypertension that causes hypoxemia secondary to right-to-left shunting of blood. The pulmonary vascular endothelium releases vasoactive mediators that play an important role in cardiopulmonary transition at birth. In PPHN, the function of the endothelium is impaired and the balance between vasodilators and vasoconstrictors is altered. There is decreased the production of…
