Abstract
To investigate the difference in ventilatory response to exercise between children and young adults, we administered a treadmill progressive exercise test to seven boys (aged 8 to 11 y [group A]) and six male young adults (aged 14 to 21 y [group B]), who had a history of Kawasaki disease without significant coronary arterial lesions, and analyzed their arterial blood gases. There was no significant difference in arterial PO2 or the end-tidal to arterial oxygen tension difference during exercise between groups A and B. The arterial PCO2 (PaCO2) at the ventilatory anaerobic threshold and at peak exercise was significantly lower in group A than in group B (p < 0.05). The arterial to end-tidal carbon dioxide tension difference at peak exercise was significantly greater in group B than in group A (p < 0.05), whereas there was no significant difference at rest or at the ventilatory anaerobic threshold level. The arterial to end-tidal carbon dioxide tension difference at peak exercise was correlated with tidal volume (p < 0.01) and carbon dioxide production (p < 0.05) at peak exercise in all subjects. Although improvement in the physiologic dead space/tidal volume ratio during exercise was smaller in group A than in group B, there was no significant difference in total alveolar ventilation during exercise. However, the total carbon dioxide production during exercise was significantly smaller in group A than in group B. These data suggest that PaCO2 during exercise is better estimated by end-tidal carbon dioxide tension in children than in young adults, that there is a significant difference in change of the PaCO2 during exercise between children and young adults, and that the decrease in PaCO2 in children is related to the mismatch between well-maintained alveolar ventilation and immature metabolic development in the working muscles during moderate-to-severe exercise.
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Abbreviations
- V˙O 2 :
-
oxygen uptake
- V˙CO 2 :
-
carbon dioxide production
- AT :
-
ventilatory anaerobic threshold
- V˙E :
-
minute ventilation
- ETCO 2 :
-
end-tidal carbon dioxide tension
- P(ET-a)DO 2 :
-
end-tidal to arterial oxygen tension difference
- P(a-ET)DCO 2 :
-
arterial to end-tidal carbon dioxide tension difference
- PaO 2 :
-
arterial partial pressure of oxygen
- PaCO 2 :
-
arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide
- V˙A :
-
alveolar ventilation
- RV :
-
residual volume
- WU :
-
warm-up
- RR :
-
respiratory rate
- TLC :
-
total lung capacity
- VT :
-
tidal volume
- VD/VT :
-
physiologic dead space to tidal volume ratio
- V˙E/V˙O 2 :
-
ventilatory equivalent for oxygen
- V˙E/V˙CO 2 :
-
ventilatory equivalent for carbon dioxide
- VC :
-
vital capacity
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Ohuchi, H., Kato, Y., Tasato, H. et al. Ventilatory Response and Arterial Blood Gases during Exercise in Children. Pediatr Res 45, 389–396 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199903000-00017
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199903000-00017
