Abstract
Pulmonary ventilation, D l co and the venous admixture components were studied in 33 healthy term infants at the age of 24 hours and 7 days. Only few of the different variables studied show a significant change during this period. V̇ a in relation to V̇ o 2 and BSA, V d in relation to V t, D l co in relation to V̇ a, V̇ o 2 and BSA, and P̄ ao 2 — P̄ co 2 are of the same order as in healthy adults. D l co decreases slightly between 24 hours and 7 days of age. The P̄ ao 2 — P ao 2 is about 30 mm Hg during air and 120 mm Hg during oxygen breathing corresponding to venous admixtures of roughly 20 and 10 per cent respectively. Thus both anatomic R-L shunt and venous admixture due to low ventilation/perfusion ratio account almost equally for the total venous admixture. Both components are significantly larger than in the adult. The percentage contribution of anatomic shunt is slightly higher at 7 days. The overall ventilation/perfusion ratio is about 0.65 and thus significantly reduced according to adult standards.
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