Hypoxia Flashcards
What is hypoxaemia?
Describes the blood environment - below 8 kPa can be considered to be hypoxaemia
What is hypoxia?
Describes the environment - PO2 in envrionment
What factors put the body under hypoxic stress?
Altitude - air has less o2 so starting point of oxygen cascade is lower
Disease
Exercise? - very short amount of time
What is barometric pressure?
Atmospheric pressure at a particular place
As altitude increases, what happens to the atmospheric (barometric) pressure?
As altitude increases, atmospheric pressure decreases.
What is the saturation and partial pressure of oxygen in the blood at the exchange surface?
75%
Partial pressure - 5.3kPa
What happens to the mean PO2 in alveolar space and arterial blood with age?
Decreases
What is the oxygen cascade?
The decreasing oxygen tension from inspired air to the respiring cells
What is the amount of gas that diffuses across a surface proportional to?
- Surface area
- Diffusion constant - e.g. CO2 diffuses faster than O2
- Diffusion gradient
Describe the oxygen cascade - how does oxygen in the air/blood change along the circuit?
- Start with 21.3 kPa of oxygen at atmospheric pressure
- Oxygen displaced when air is humidified
- Further down the airways air mixes with that which is preexisiting - bar can be moved UP (hyperventilation) or DOWN (hypoventilation)
- No change between the alveolar air and the post-alveolar capillaries
- Slight decrease between post-alveolar capillaries and arteries because of the bronchial drainage
How is oxygen transported in the blood?
free - 2%
bound to Hb - 98%
What factors affect the oxygen cascade?
1) Alveolar Ventilation
2) Ventilation/Perfusion Matching - if you are ventilating airways that are not perfused or hyper-perfused, you won’t achieve efficient gas exchange.
3) Diffusion Capacity - some disease can affect the parenchyma (the functional subunits - the alveolar capillary membranes) can become thickened and less exchange
4) Cardiac Output - if you increase cardiac output then you increase the amount of blood flowing through and getting the opportunity to oxygenate hence increasing oxygen delivery
What are the five challenges of altitude?
- Hypoxia
- Thermal stress: freezing cold and high-wind chill factor
- Solar radiation: less atmospheric screening and reflection off snow
- Hydration: water lost humidifying inhaled air and hypoxia induced diuresis
- Dangerous: windy, unstable etc.
What are some innate/developmental adaptations to high altitude?
- barrel chest: larger chest and bigger lungs, larger TLC, more alveoli and more capillaries
- increased haematocrit: more RBCs due to chronic secretion of erythropoietin
- larger heart: pulmonary vasculature constricts in response to hypoxia so you need a stronger right side of the heart to push blood through the increased resistance
- increased mitochondrial density
What is chronic mountain sickness - cause, pathophysiology, symptoms, consequences and treatment?
- LT adaptation in acclimatised individuals can cause CMS (Monge’s disease)
- unknown cause
- pathophysiology: secondary polycythaemia in response to hypoxia. RBCs are overproduced so increased haematocrit. Hence the viscosity of the blood increases.
- symptoms: cyanosis
- consequences: heart failure, death
- treatment: move to lower altitude