PEDIATRICS Vol. 16 No. 1 July 1955, pp. 93-103
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow P3Rs: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when P3Rs are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Miller, H. C.
Right arrow Articles by Smull, N. W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Miller, H. C.
Right arrow Articles by Smull, N. W.

FURTHER STUDIES ON THE EFFECTS OF HYPOXIA ON THE RESPIRATION OF NEWBORN INFANTS

Herbert C. Miller M.D.1 and Ned W. Smull M.D.1

1 The Department of Pediatrics, University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City, Kansas.

The response to breathing 12 per cent oxygen by newborn premature and full-term infants and premature infants several weeks old has been studied. Comparisons show that newborn premature and full-term infants during the first days after birth failed to respond with increases in respiratory rate or tidal volume during the hypoxic state. In fact, there was some decrease in ventilation which was largely related to reductions in tidal volume. Premature infants several weeks old, on the other hand, showed an immediate and significant hyperpnea while breathing 12 per cent oxygen. The younger infants, particularly the premature infants, seemed to be less disturbed by the hypoxia than older infants. These results substantiated previous results obtained on full-term infants. The hypothesis was advanced that the chemoreceptor reflexes were less active immediately following birth than later on in life.

Submitted on February 7, 1955