Elsevier

The Journal of Pediatrics

Volume 67, Issue 4, October 1965, Pages 557-567
The Journal of Pediatrics

The nasal resistance of newborn infants***

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3476(65)80425-5Get rights and content

The resistance of the nasal air passages, which is an important factor in the mechanics of respiration in newborn infants, was found to be about one fourth of the total lung resistance. It would appear that the nasal passages contribute a relatively smaller part (slightly less than half) of the airway resistance than in adults. The reason for “obligatory” nose breathing in newborn infants may be found in the pattern of phylogenetic development of oropharyngeal and nasal structures.

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***

This study was supported by a United States Public Health Service Research Career Program Award (No. HE-K3-9471) and a United States Public Health Service Research Grant (No. HD-00236).

*

Address, Department of Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 4, Pa.

**

R. Samuel McLaughlin Fellow, present position, Clinical Instructor, University of British Columbia Medical School, Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

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