Synopsis

Before the advent of modern neonatal intensive care in the 1970s, many tiny babies died soon after birth, most commonly because they lacked pulmonary surfactant, leading to respiratory failure.  Professor Lex Doyle first treated the breathing problems of tiny babies in the mid-1970s during his basic training in paediatrics.  Techniques for assisting breathing after birth were embryonic, and the results were not particularly good.  As the unique requirements for tiny babies were better appreciated, and as the equipment and technology improved, many more survived.  However, not all have survived without ongoing health problems.  During this Grand Round, Lex will describe the changes in neonatal intensive care and how they have affected the short-term and long-term outcomes for tiny babies.

Speaker

Lex W Doyle, MD, MSc, FRACP, is Professor of Paediatrics in the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Paediatrics at the University of Melbourne.  After training in neonatal paediatrics in Melbourne in the 1970s, and at McMaster University in Canada from 1979 to 1982, from 1983 he has been based at the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne.  His major research interest has been in the long-term outcomes of very tiny or preterm infants.  He participates with colleagues in determining their outcomes into adulthood, and has been involved in many randomised controlled trials of interventions before, during and after birth designed to improve their long-term health.