Circulatory Adaptations in Hypoxia

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Abstract
At present it seems clear that the favorable "high output" pattern in arterial hypoxia is similar to that of primary tissue hypoxia. The only difference between arterial and tissue hypoxia in moderate degrees of oxygen lack is the addition of a respiratory response in the former. It is only in very acute types of arterial hypoxia that the circulatory emergency function of the arterial chemoreceptors becomes obvious, and with more moderate degrees of hypoxia they contribute chiefly to the control of respiration. Surprisingly little is known about the nervous control of the circulatory response to hypoxia. The extensive use of anesthetized preparations may be responsible for this. These have often been subjected to severe grades of arterial hypoxia which would be incompatible with prolonged survival in the conscious animal; results obtained in this way have perhaps contributed to the perpetuation of the belief that the emergency regulation of the circulation by the arterial chemoreceptors is the normal mechanism of circulatory control in hypoxia.