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ABSTRACT Infants living at 3100 meters altitude have a higher morbidity to mild respiratory illness than do infants living below 1300 meters. The morbidity is expressed as exaggerated
hypoxemia. This exaggeration could be explained by a reduction of blood flow to alveoli (effective pulmonary blood flow, Qeff). Previous studies on infants born at sea level and 1300 meters
show that Qeff is low during the first 25 hours of age (100→150 ml/min/kg) but rises over the next 72 hours to normal levels (175→200 ml/min/kg). We measured the Qeff by a noninvasive
rebreathing technique on 15 infants born at 3100 meters. Qeff was measured at 2, 8, 18, 34, 60 and 80 hours of age. We found that the Qeff in these infants was similar for the first 18 hours
in babies born below 1300 meters, (95→122 ml/min/kg), but after 18 hours dropped to lower levels, 107 ml/min/kg, by 80 hours of age. We conclude that Qeff is reduced after 20 hours of age
in infants living at 3100 meters. Therefore, the added reduction of PO2 to the alveoli caused by a respiratory infection could result in significant hypoxemia for those infants. ARTICLE PDF
AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * University of Colorado School of Medicine and the Webb-Waring Lung Institute, Denver, Colorado Ernest K Cotton Authors * Ernest K Cotton View
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EFFECTIVE PULMONARY BLOOD FLOW MAY LEAD TO INCREASED MORBIDITY IN INFANTS RESIDING AT HIGH ALTITUDE. _Pediatr Res_ 15 (Suppl 4), 716 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198104001-01657
Download citation * Issue Date: 01 April 1981 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198104001-01657 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this
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