| Popis: |
Hypoxia is a condition that is not only observed in critically ill patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU): Approximately 140 million people live in a high altitude environment and face chronic hypoxia [1], and every human being has experienced extreme hypoxic conditions in utero. The fetus can survive and grow under these conditions because of decreased metabolic demands and altered cardiovascular circulation. Naturally, if oxygen delivery (DO2) does not meet oxygen consumption (VO2), the fetus will suffer and will eventually require critical care. For this condition, the term dysoxia is appropriate, as it describes the condition in which the need for oxygen to sustain cellular respiration (mitochondrial oxygen requirement for fueling oxidative phosphorylation to produce ATP needed for the energy requirements of cells to live and function) exceeds that being supplied by the microcirculation [2]. |
