Surfactant replacement after acute massive milk aspiration in a very low birthweight infant

Massive milk aspiration during infant feeding is a severe event causing respiratory distress, asphyxia and sudden death.1 To date, only experimental models have shown that administration of exogenous surfactant is a successful treatment for acute lung injury induced by acidified formula, or human breast milk, aspiration.2 3 We describe a case of massive milk aspiration successfully treated with surfactant administration in a very low birthweight infant. A 1180 g male infant of 30 weeks’ gestation was delivered by caesarean section due to variable decelerations in cardio-tocographic readings. The infant’s Apgar scores were 8 and 9 at 1 and 5 min, respectively. …