Total liquid ventilation efficacy in an ovine model of severe meconium aspiration syndrome

Objective: To test the hypothesis that total liquid ventilation enables a more effective and better tolerated lavage than a bronchoalveolar lavage performed with diluted surfactant in a newborn ovine model of severe acute meconium aspiration syndrome. Design: Prospective, randomized, interventional study. Setting: Animal research laboratory at the Faculte de medecine et des sciences de la sante de I'universite de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada. Subjects: Twenty-three newborn lambs