Response of newborn lambs to CO-induced hypoxia

This study was undertaken to measure the neonate's response to CO-induced hypoxia in the first 10 days of life. CO breathing was used to induce hypoxia because CO causes tissue hypoxia with no or minimal chemoreceptor stimulation. An inspired gas mixture of 0.25 to 0.5% CO in air was used to raise the blood carboxyhemoglobin (HbCO) progressively from 0 to 60% over approximately 20 min. The study, conducted in awake conscious lambs aged 2 and 10 days, consisted in measuring the response of ventilation and the change in arterial blood gases during the rise of HbCO. The results showed that the 2- and 10-day-old lambs tolerated very high HbCO levels without an increase in minute ventilation (VE) and without metabolic acidosis. At both ages, HbCO caused no VE change until HbCO levels rose to between 45 and 50% after which the VE change was exponential in some animals but minimal in others. The VE change was brought about by a rise in tidal volume and respiratory frequency. During the period of maturation from 2 to 10 days, there was a small shift to the right in the VE-HbCO response. In the 10-day-old lambs the VE response to high HbCO was greater than that of the 2-day-olds because of the lambs' higher respiratory frequency response. Six of the 10-day-old lambs but only two of the 2-day-old lambs showed a hypoxic tachypnea to HbCO of 55-65%. None of the lambs developed periodic breathing, dysrhythmic breathing, or recurrent apneas with an HbCO level as high as 60%.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)