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

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Infants born prematurely frequently develop respiratory distress syndrome because their lungs lack sufficient surfactant, a substance that prevents the alveoli from collapsing, not because they have too few alveoli.

Infants Born Prematurely Frequently Develop Respiratory Distress Syndrome of the Newborn