What is PPHN?
PPHN, or Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn, is a serious and sometimes fatal respiratory condition that can develop within the first few hours or days of a baby”s life. In the general population, one to two infants per 1,000 will develop this condition. Of these children, ten to twenty percent will not survive despite all treatment efforts. During prenatal development, the baby receives oxygen from her mother via the umbilical cord. The circulatory system is such that blood sent away from the heart by the pulmonary artery is brought back to the heart through the ductus arteriosus, thus bypassing the lungs. When a child is born and the umbilical cord is cut, the child no longer receives oxygen from her mother. Instead, the system must adapt so that the child uses her own lungs to receive oxygen. In a healthy infant, the ductus arteriosus closes up and the blood from the heart pumps to the lungs through the pulmonary artery. In a child with PPHN, the pulmonary artery rema
