PEDIATRICS Vol. 42 No. 5 November 1968, pp. 778-785
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 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 Lees, M. H.
Right arrow Articles by Ross, B. B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Lees, M. H.
Right arrow Articles by Ross, B. B.

VENTILATION-PERFUSION RELATIONSHIPS IN CHILDREN WITH HEART DISEASE AND DIMINISHED PULMONARY BLOOD FLOW

Martin H. Lees M.D.1, Richard H. Burnell M.D.1, Clarence L. Morgan M.D.1, and Benjamin B. Ross Ph.D.1

1 Departments of Pediatrics and Physiology, University of Oregon Medical School, Portland, Oregon

Pulmonary function of infants and children with diminished pulmonary blood flow was studied by measurement of alveolar ventilation and alveolar-arterial gas tension differences of O2, CO2, and N2. The increased ventilation of these subjects was found to be effective in CO2 elimination (arterial CO2 tension, 31 mm Hg), but there was evidence of considerable unevenness of distribution of ventilation/perfusion ratios (VAQ). A measure of the degree of VA/Q unevenness was obtained by use of the urine-alveolar nitrogen tension difference.

It is likely, under the prevailing conditions of hyperventilation and hypoperfusion, that maldistribution of perfusion is the major abnormality. Uneven distribution of perfusion is most probably due to the effects of gravity enhanced by low pulmonary artery pressure and blood flow—an exaggenation of the normal physiologic relative overperfusion of the lower-most parts of the lung.

Submitted on January 18, 1968
Accepted on April 18, 1968