Abstract
We studied the impact of postnatal age on baseline PCO2, slope, and position of the CO2 response curve in two groups of infants. Eight infants (Group I) with prolonged apnea (BW 1850±820g, GA 33±5wks) were tested twice at 42±7 and 55±9wks post-conceptual age (P<0.01). Seven (Group II) near miss infants (BW 3160±760g, GA 37±3 wks) were examined at 48±6 and 68±6wks (P<0.01). Ventilatory responses to CO2 were obtained by a computerized CO2 waveform analyzer with the capacity to measure breath-to-breath responses.
There were no significant differences in PCO2, slope and curve position at Ve=300ml between the two evaluations in either group. Due to the large coefficient of variation of the slope measurement we examined these results in another manner. In Group I, 5 slopes were abnormal (<20mm/kg/min/mmHg BTPS) in the first test and 3 in the second. In Group II 5 first slopes and 3 second slopes were abnormal. While this analysis suggests slope change with advancing age, the differences did not reach statistical significance. These data suggest that the CO2 response curve characteristics change little in the patients and time periods examined.
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Marotta, F., Fort, M., Hiatt, I. et al. THE EFFECT OF POSTNATAL AGE ON THE VENTILATORY RESPONSE TO C02. Pediatr Res 18 (Suppl 4), 326 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-01401
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-01401