Question

Infants born prematurely frequently develop respiratory distress syndrome of the newborn because they have too few alveoli to exchange O2 and CO2 efficiently.

a-true
b-false

Answer 1

It is false that premature infants develop respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) due to having too few alveoli; the actual cause is a deficiency in pulmonary surfactant.

Step-by-step explanation:

The statement that infants born prematurely frequently develop respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) because they have too few alveoli to exchange O2 and CO2 efficiently is false. The primary issue in RDS is not the number of alveoli but rather the lack of sufficient pulmonary surfactant. This surfactant is vital for reducing surface tension in the lungs and helping alveoli inflate, which is crucial immediately after birth to facilitate gas exchange. Infants born prematurely often have not produced enough surfactant because surfactant production increases later in gestation, generally becoming adequate around the eighth month of pregnancy.