ABSTRACT
Skeletal disorders may present with neonatal respiratory distress, which is usually lethal. Respiratory distress results from abnormal lung growth due to restriction by limited rib growth (osteochondrodysplasias), upper airway obstruction (diastrophic dysplasia) and/or abnormal bone, cartilage or collagen development leading to a small or abnormal thoracic cage (hypophosphatasia, achondrogenesis and osteogenesis imperfecta) (Tables 35.1 and 35.2). Rarely, ‘localized’ severe sternal or vertebral anomalies can so alter the structure of the thoracic cage as to impair lung function.
