[Oxygen consumption in infants and children with congenital heart defects]. / Zur Frage des Sauerstoffverbrauchs bei Säuglingen und Kindern mit angeborenen Herzfehlern

Resting oxygen uptake was determined by a diaferometer in 90 children with congenital heart disease and in 39 children without cardiac defects, both groups ranging in age from 1 month to 15 years. The children with cardiac defects were classified according to the kind of the defect. The values of all children were related to body surface area and in every case compared with standards of basal metabolic rate of Karlberg and Fleisch. Although there was a tendency to higher values of resting oxygen uptake in children with cardiac defects, a statistically definite difference to the standard values could not be established. The possibly influencing factors of oxygen uptake in children with cardiac defects, as weight reduction, sedation, heart dynamics and oxygen cost of breathing are discussed regarding the literature.