European journal of applied physiology and occupational physiology
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Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol · Jan 1985
Extracorporeal CO2-removal: pulmonary and extracorporeal equilibria in dogs and sheep.
Extracorporeal CO2-removal promises to be an efficient alternative to the conservative treatment of advanced lung diseases. Extracorporeal CO2-removal is achieved in a veno-venous bypass in combination with low frequency ventilation. Positive clinical results in the treatment of adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are encouraging. ⋯ We report here on experiments with dogs and sheep undergoing a veno-venous bypass employing a CO2-eliminator. The experimental results are compared with theoretical values which predict the important relationships between blood flow rate of the extracorporeal circulation (ECC), the CO2-elimination capacity of the CO2-eliminator and the low ventilation rate (down to apnea for 5 h) of the natural lung. It was shown that the blood gas data as well as acid base status could be maintained within physiological ranges.