Related Experiment Videos
Clinical use of the arterial/alveolar oxygen tension ratio
Critical Care Medicine
|November 1, 1983
Abstract:
A prospective study to verify the behavior of the arterial/alveolar oxygen tension ratio (PaO2/PAO2) at different fractions of inspired oxygen (FIO2), was performed in 15 adult hypoxemic patients. This index was useful not only for predicting the arterial oxygen tension but also for choosing the necessary oxygen supplementary levels. PaO2/PAO2 was a less reliable index in patients with mild intrapulmonary shunts, probably because of changes in the distribution of alveolar ventilation/perfusion ratios.