[Hyaline membrane disease (idiopathic respiratory distress syndrome of newborn infants)].

A review of literature on the morphology and pathogenesis of the disease of hyaline membranes (DHM) in children is presented. The role of predisposing factors in the development of the disease such as inheritance, perinatal asphyxia, prematurity of newborns, diabetes in the mother, Cesarian section, is analyzed. The results of electron microscopic, immunohistochemical and dynamic histological examinations of the lungs in DHM are presented. The current concepts on the association of this disease with a defficiency of a surfactant, alpha1-antitrypsin, hypoperfusion and reduction of fibrinolytic activity of the lung tissue, and with the condition of the vegetative nervous system are discussed.