In health pO2(a) is maintained within the range 10.613.3 kPa (80-100 mmHg) and hypoxemia (reduced blood oxygen) is diagnosed if pO2(a) is less than 10.6 kPa (80 mmHg). The purpose of this article is to highlight the spurious severe hypoxemia that occurs in patients with particularly high white-cell count or high platelet count. In these patients there is a marked discrepancy between measured (i...

A 37-year-old man who had an atrial septal defect (ASD) corrected as an infant was found to be hypoxemic with a 22% shunt. An MRI scan revealed that the patient's inferior vena cava drained into his left rather than his right atrium, a previously undetected complication of his ASD repair 36 years before.

In a limited number of subjects having hypoxemia related to congenital malformations of the heart, no evidence was obtained of a correlation between the degree of hypoxemia or the extent of the pOlycytheniia and the systemic blood flow. The circulatory response to exercise was characterized by a greater increase in the arteriovenous oxygen difference than in the systemic blood flow. A syncopal ...

Oxygen use in prehospital care is aimed at treating or preventing hypoxemia. However, excess oxygen delivery has important consequences in select patients, and hyperoxia can adversely impact outcome. The unique environment of prehospital care poses logistical and educational challenges. Oxygen therapy in prehospital care should be provided to patients with hypoxemia and titrated to achieve norm...