[Drug treatment of apnoea in premature infants (author's transl)].

Primary apnoea in premature infants can be treated by three categories of drugs. Drugs of the first category act on chemoreceptors and include doxapram and possibly almitrine if the latter proves non-toxic during the neonatal period. Phenobarbitone is so far the only representative of the second category of drugs which alter the pattern of sleep. As for the third category, it has the second messenger of respiratory centres for target and includes the phosphodiesterase's inhibitor (not yet tried in man) and the xanthines. At the moment, xanthines are the drugs of choice, since they are both effective and safe, provided dosage is adjusted to each patient.