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Start free with EleplanMeconium aspiration syndrome
ORPHA:70588Disease
What it is
Meconium aspiration syndrome is a pulmonary complication appearing in newborns with a meconium-stained amniotic fluid. Aspirated meconium can interfere with normal breathing by several mechanisms including airway obstruction, chemical irritation, infection and surfactant inactivation and induces more or less severe signs of respiratory distress at birth.
Key facts
- Prevalence
- 1-9 / 100 000 (Europe)
- Age of onset
- Infancy, Neonatal
- Inheritance
- Not applicable
- Classified as
- Disease
Prevalence figures describe populations, not individuals, and are often estimates from a single study. Where the figure is an incidence or a birth prevalence, it says so.
Signs and symptoms
Common30–79%
7Sometimes5–29%
13- Aspiration pneumonia
- Atelectasis
- Hypoxemia
- Intrauterine growth retardation
- Maternal diabetes
- Maternal hypertension
- Meconium stained amniotic fluid
- Neonatal asphyxia
and 5 more in this range
These ranges are how often a sign appears across everyone diagnosed, not a prediction for one person — most people have some of these and not others. Orphanet also records findings that are specifically absent in this disease; those are in the data but not listed here.
ICD-10 codes
Related health topics
Reached through the ICD-10 categories this disease is filed under, so these describe the broader group rather than this disease specifically.
Cross-references
Orphadata Science: Free access data from Orphanet. © INSERM 1999. Data version 2026-06-23. Available under CC BY 4.0. This is a reference, not medical advice.
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