[Lung diseases associated with inherited disorders of surfactant metabolism].

Lung diseases associated with surfactant-metabolism disorders are a heterogeneous group of rare diseases. Intra-alveolar accumulation of protein related to surfactant dysfunction leads to cough, hypoxemia, and radiological-diffuse infiltration. Inherited deficiency of pulmonary surfactant protein B (SP-B) was initially described in infants who develop respiratory failure at birth. More recently, mutations in other constitutive surfactant proteins, such as surfactant protein C or implied in its metabolism, such as ATP-binding cassette, subfamily A, member 3 (ABCA3) and thyroid transcription factor 1 (TTF-1) were identified in newborns with respiratory distress as well as in children with chronic-infiltrative pneumonia. The aim of this review is therefore to summarize the current state of our knowledge in this area.