Surfactant Therapy for Premature Infants: Lifesaving Treatment and Long-Term Outcomes

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• Curosurf Invention and Impact on Premature Babies
• Meeting the First Patient Treated with Surfactant
• The Emotional Reward of Saving Lives
• Clinical Trials and Early Treatment Criteria
• Family Connections and Personal Stories
• From Basic Research to Clinical Success

Curosurf Invention and Impact on Premature Babies

Dr. Tore Curstedt, MD, co-invented the revolutionary medication Curosurf, a natural surfactant replacement therapy that has dramatically improved survival rates for premature infants with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). The first patients treated with this medication are now healthy adults, representing one of modern medicine's most significant success stories in neonatal care. Surfactant therapy addresses the critical lack of pulmonary surfactant in premature babies' lungs, which is essential for proper breathing function.

Meeting the First Patient Treated with Surfactant

Dr. Tore Curstedt, MD, describes a profound experience meeting the first baby treated with Curosurf outside of Sweden. At a 2005 medical conference in Belfast, a young man approached Dr. Curstedt to personally thank him for saving his life, stating "Without you, I would not have been alive." This individual was pursuing university studies at the time, demonstrating the full, healthy life made possible by surfactant therapy. The encounter provided tangible evidence of the long-term effectiveness of this groundbreaking treatment.

The Emotional Reward of Saving Lives

For Dr. Tore Curstedt, MD, meeting patients whose lives he saved decades earlier represents the ultimate reward of medical research. He describes these encounters as emotionally powerful experiences that validate decades of scientific work. After returning from a European patent award ceremony in Lisbon, Dr. Curstedt received an unexpected email from the very first patient treated with surfactant in 1983, who was now working in IT and feeling very well. They arranged to meet with the patient's parents in August to discuss his prematurity journey, creating a full-circle moment for the pioneering physician.

Clinical Trials and Early Treatment Criteria

During initial clinical trials, Curosurf treatment was restricted to the most critically ill premature infants. Dr. Tore Curstedt, MD, explains that they could only treat very low birth weight babies weighing between 700-900 grams, typically born around 27 weeks gestation. These strict inclusion criteria were necessary for research purposes but meant that only the most vulnerable infants received the experimental therapy. The success with these extremely premature babies laid the foundation for broader approval and use of surfactant replacement therapy in neonatal intensive care units worldwide.

Dr. Anton Titov, MD, clarifies that these restrictions were part of the clinical trial protocol, ensuring proper scientific evaluation of the new treatment. The dramatic improvements seen in these critically ill infants provided compelling evidence for Curosurf's effectiveness.

Family Connections and Personal Stories

The impact of surfactant therapy extends beyond patients to their entire families, as Dr. Tore Curstedt, MD, discovered through a personal connection. He received a letter from a cousin thanking him for existing after her seventh grandchild, born at 28 weeks weighing approximately 800 grams, survived thanks to Curosurf therapy. The cousin had been unaware of Dr. Curstedt's specific research focus, knowing only that he worked at Karolinska Institute. This unexpected family connection highlighted how surfactant therapy has touched lives even within Dr. Curstedt's own family, with the now two-year-old granddaughter described as a playful and happy child who wouldn't have survived without this medical advancement.

From Basic Research to Clinical Success

The development of Curosurf represents a perfect example of successful translation from basic scientific research to clinical application that saves specific lives. Dr. Tore Curstedt, MD, emphasizes that witnessing this transformation is the most important aspect of his work. The journey from laboratory discovery to treating actual patients with life-threatening respiratory distress syndrome demonstrates the critical value of medical research investment. Dr. Anton Titov, MD, notes that this exemplifies how basic science fundamentally transforms clinical practice and patient outcomes.

Dr. Tore Curstedt, MD's experiences meeting healthy adults who would have died without surfactant therapy provide the ultimate validation of his life's work. These encounters underscore the profound human impact of medical innovation and the lasting legacy of research that begins in the laboratory but ultimately saves lives in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Full Transcript

Dr. Anton Titov, MD: The first patients who were treated with the medication that you co-invented, Curosurf, you saved them when they were born prematurely. They are now adults and lead healthy lives. Dr. Tore Curstedt, I know that some of them write to you and come to meet you. How does it feel to save somebody's life, then to meet them later on even though you haven't met them before?

Dr. Tore Curstedt, MD: It is a real reward. That is the reward, to have saved a person's life and you meet them again. That is the more important thing.

I can tell you, when we had a meeting in Belfast in 2005, one of those surfactant meetings, I met the first baby treated outside Sweden. He stood there and thanked us for his life. "Without you, I would not have been alive," he said. He had started studying at the university at that time.

That was a feeling you can't explain.

I also had, this summer, I had been to Lisbon for this European patent award. When I came home, there had been something written in the papers. Then I had an email to my hospital, to my email address, "I was the first." I didn't know what it meant. I thought, is it spam? Or what is it?

I opened it and a man said, "I was the first who got your surfactant in 1983. I am now working with IT. I feel very well." I wrote to him and we have decided to see each other in August. I will meet with him and his parents to discuss this, about his prematurity. He was born in week 27. His weight was less than 800 grams.

Dr. Anton Titov, MD: A similar story to the first ever baby that you treated.

Dr. Tore Curstedt, MD: Yes. The first babies were very sick. They were very low weight, at perhaps 700 to 900 grams. We were not allowed to treat bigger babies or those who were more mature.

Dr. Anton Titov, MD: Because you did it during the clinical trial.

Dr. Tore Curstedt, MD: During clinical trials. We could treat this very, very sick baby. It will be very interesting to meet him and his parents. We discussed, his parents would like to come to us also just to discuss what happened during the days in 1983.

But here also, it is another thing to tell a story about that. When I visited Lisbon and came back in June, I had a letter in my letter box. It said, "Dear Cousin Tore." That is from a cousin of mine. "Dear Cousin Tore, Thank you that you exist. I got my seventh grandchild two years ago. She was born in week 28, her weight was about 800 grams. She survived thanks to you."

Now she's a playful and happy little girl for two years. She had no idea that I worked with surfactant. She knew that I worked at Karolinska, but nothing about the research. But she also said, "Without you, my grandchild would not be alive." That is very important for all this research, to see success from the basic research and also that you have saved the lives of the babies.

Dr. Anton Titov, MD: This is how basic science transforms into the clinical science and saves specific lives of specific patients, and you have seen that.

Dr. Tore Curstedt, MD: Yes, I have seen it and that is very important. That is the most important thing.