Pulmonary Hyaline Membranes: Killer or Protector

It is unfortunate that the clinical significance of hyaline membranes has been overempha-sized in the respiratory distress syndrome. Membranes are confirmed always in neonatal deaths at postmortem examination and there is very little information regarding the membranes among surviving infants who have suffered from the syndrome. Although some investigators have tried to dissolve the membranes with fibrinolytic enzymes, there is no definite evidence that the membranes are responsible for the direct cause of death and the syndrome.