Abstract
The hypothesis presented in this report is that the ratio of oxygen extracted (VO2) per unit volume of alveolar ventilation (VA), or its numerical equivalent, the fraction of inspired oxygen minus the fraction of alveolar oxygen, is a significant measure of pulmonary function in children. Despite the fact that the arterial blood gases of children are within the normal range for adults, the values for the alveolar gases are significantly different. Measurements of these gases in 348 normal school children (ages 6 to 12 years) gave a higher fraction of alveolar oxygen (0.16) and a lower fraction of alveolar CO2 (0.042) than for 101 medical studients (ages 20 to 28 years). The ratio of the volume of oxygen extracted per unit volume of alveolar ventilation was significantly lower (46 ml per liter) for children than for the medical students (69 ml per liter). We suggest that this resistance to the movement of oxygen into the blood from the alveoli is an important parameter to examine in determining the effect of drugs on pulmonary function, since it represents the total effect of pulmonary ventilation, blood perfusion through the lungs, and utilization of oxygen by the tissues.
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