Oxygen Toxicity in Man

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Abstract
Alternate patients (from a group of 40) after cardiac surgery received ventilation with pure oxygen, or the minimal inspired oxygen concentration required to maintain an arterial oxygen tension between 80 and 120 mm of mercury. The latter group of 20 patients did not receive more than 42 per cent inspired oxygen, and their mean duration of exposure was 21 hours, with a maximum of 44 hours. The mean exposure of 18 patients inspiring pure oxygen was 24 hours, with a maximum of 48 hours. No difference in intrapulmonary shunt, effective compliance, ratio of dead space to tidal volume or clinical course could be detected between the two groups. Of two additional patients who inspired pure oxygen for a prolonged period, one died of massive pulmonary hemorrhage related to clotting deficit after seven days' exposure, and the other recovered after five days' exposure. Fear of pulmonary oxygen toxicity should not prevent use of elevated inspired oxygen concentrations in critically ill patients requiring artificial ventilation. Further prospective studies are required to define the pulmonary effects of pure oxygen in such cases.