[Toxic adverse effects of oxygen therapy in patients with chronic obstructive bronchitis]

Seventy-eight patients aged 16-78 (48 males and 30 females) in whom COB ran with respiratory insufficiency stage II and III (51 and 27 patients, respectively) and cor pulmonale stage II-A, II-B and III (28, 26 and 8 patients, respectively) received normal-pressure oxygen for 10 min. Posttreatment examinations were performed for pulmonary function, acid and alkaline reactions, oxygen metabolism and blood flow rate. The frequency and intensity of PaCO2 rise in COB patients on oxygen therapy are shown to correlate with severity of restrictive respiratory insufficiency (RRI) and hypoxemia, to relate to reduced capacity of oxygenated hemoglobin for CO2 transport, being independent of the lost hypoxemic stimulus on the respiratory center. Elevated PaCO2 in COB patients on oxygen therapy is not a contraindication to its administration, though dictates its short duration (10-15 min 1-2 times an hour). Complete intolerance to oxygen therapy arose in 5.1% of the COB patients with manifest RRI (VC of due VC being 21.1 +/- 4.13%) and hypoxemia (% HBO2 being 52.6 +/- 8.01%). In effective treatment these patients diminished RRI and restored tolerance to oxygen therapy.