Caffeine and Less Invasive Surfactant Administration for Respiratory Distress Syndrome of the Newborn

Coffee to Make LISA-a-go

In August of 1963, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, the fourth child of Jackie Onassis Kennedy and John F. Kennedy, died less than 48 hours after his birth from respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) of the newborn. His tragic death inspired research into the physiology of RDS, one product of which was the development of surfactant replacement therapies which have saved millions of neonates from a similar fate. Shortly after the demonstration of its efficacy in 1980, exogenous surfactant replacement therapy became the mainstay intervention for RDS.1 Exogenous surfactant was originally administered via an endotracheal tube in mechanically ventilated neonates, a practice which may lead to ventilator-induced injury to the immature lung.