Periodic breathing induced on demand in awake newborn lamb

Spontaneous periodic breathing, although a common feature in fullterm and preterm human infants, is scarce in other newborn mammals. The aim of this study was to induce periodic breathing in lambs. Four 10-day-old and two <48-h-old awake lambs were instrumented with jugular catheters connected to an extracorporeal membrane lung aimed at controlling arterial PCO2 (PaCO2). Arterial PO2 (PaO2) was set and maintained at the desired level by changing inspired O2 fraction and providing O2 through a small catheter into the "apneic" lung. At a critical PaO2/PaCO2 combination, the four 10-day-old lambs exhibited periodic breathing that could be initiated, terminated, and reinitiated on demand. In the 2-day-old lambs with low chemoreceptor gain, periodic breathing was hardly seen, regardless of the trials done to find the critical PO2/PCO2 combination. We conclude that periodic breathing can be induced in lambs and depends on critical PaO2/PaCO2 combinations and maturity of the chemoreceptors.