ABSTRACT

Chronic hypoxia in the perinatal period leads to a persistently elevated pulmonary vascular resistance, irrespective of its etiology. The immediate morbidity and mortality is high, and after the insult has been removed, permanent damage can result. The normal processes of adaptation to extrauterine life and subsequent ordered growth are disturbed in both the airways and vasculature, and development proceeds along the wrong track. The aim is to identify the most important factors instigating abnormal development, to control them, to reverse abnormal structural and functional changes and to reestablish the normal pattern of growth and development.