[Changes in respiratory function, functional and true intrapulmonary shunts and acid-base state depending on the type of heart defect]

The respiratory disorders in various kinds of heart defects were studied in 226 patients with acquired heart defects. The following indices were determined: external respiration, alveolar ventilation, alveolar-capillary diffusion, functional and real intrapulmonary shunts and acid-base state. The complex studies via numerous indices, juxtaposed in the separate defects, revealed various stages of manifestation of the respiratory disorders according to the kind of defect, at identical degree of cardiac insufficiency. The lightest proved to be the respiratory disorders in combined aortic defects and most manifested--in biaxial defects (mitral and aortic). In mitral defects with predominant stenosis, the respiratory disorders are better manifested as compared with those with predominant insufficiency, and for some of the indices--they are considerable.