Chemical Control of Respiration in Newborn Infants

The respiratory response of the new‐born lamb to inhaled CO2 with and without accompanying hypoxia*

“…Thus in both the new-born lamb and infant there is a non-respiratory acidosis shortly after birth which follows birth asphyxia. In both species, this is corrected in 24-48 hr (Graham & Wilson, 1954;Weisbrot, James, Prince, Holaday & Apgar, 1958;Reardon, Baumann & Haddad, 1960). Most of these and other studies on the new-born infant have concentrated on the changes which occur in the first 2 or 3 days after birth but the data of Reardon et al (1960) show that the non-respiratory acidosis is followed by a compensated respiratory alkalosis where the pHa is normal and both the arterial Pco0 and HC03-are markedly reduced.…”

The Physiologic Closure of the Ductus Arteriosus in the Newborn Infant 12

“…In many of these studies foot or umbilical artery blood has been used (34)(35)(36)(37). In one of these studies (38) conclusions were drawn as to the chemical control of respiration in the newborn infant. The oxygen saturations thus obtained, in many instances, may have been low because of the venoarterial shunt at the ductus, as demonstrated by the data in this paper.…”

Intermittent Hypoxia in Childhood: The Harmful Consequences Versus Potential Benefits of Therapeutic Uses

“…At different stages of ontogenesis, the increase of ventilation in response to hypoxia is provided by unequal changes in breathing modes ( 53 ). In contrast to the adult, hypoxic ventilatory response (HVR) in newborns is short and unstable ( 54 ). An early investigation from our group in 1977 revealed that inhalation of gas mixture with 14.5% O 2 for 12 min resulted in an increase in lung ventilation ( V E ) during the first minute by 18% in adults and 24% in children of 4–5 years, indicating a stronger initial response in children than those in adults ( 49 ).…”