Abstract
Newborns with hypoplastic left heart syndrome require palliative treatment followed by surgical reconstruction of the cardiovascular system to maintain systemic oxygen delivery. Initial medical treatment prevents closure of interatrial and interarterial shunts. This results in two parallel circulations perfused by the right ventricle. The ratio of pulmonary to systemic blood flow (QP/QS) becomes a critical parameter once pulmonary resistance begins to decrease after birth. The effects of QP/QS on systemic oxygen availability was studied using a mathematical model based on oxygen flow in the system. The model showed that systemic oxygen delivery can be maximized by altering QP/QS and that the maximum value can be obtained with QP/QS that is between 0.4 and 1.0. The upper limit of QP/QS that will generate adequate systemic oxygen supply, can be as high as 8.0. The model also showed that calculation of QP/QS using oxygen saturation measurements involves a very large error.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1168-1169 |
| Number of pages | 2 |
| Journal | Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology - Proceedings |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue number | pt 2 |
| State | Published - 1994 |
| Event | Proceedings of the 16th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Part 1 (of 2) - Baltimore, MD, USA Duration: 3 Nov 1994 → 6 Nov 1994 |