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Perinatal Hypoxia

Implications for Mammalian Development

  • Chapter
Handbook of Behavioral Teratology

Abstract

The literature contains many studies of the effects of acute hypoxia, anoxia, and asphyxia, as induced by a variety of techniques, on measures of the cardiovascular, pulmonary, and nervous systems. These studies have provided an important information base for healthcare professionals in instances of cardiorespiratory pathology, acute toxic exposure, or other acute life-threatening situations. However, the literature dealing with responses of the immature organism to hypoxic conditions is much less complete. One explanation for this relative paucity of data on the developing organism is that, classically, the immature organism has been regarded as relatively insensitive to hypoxia. This view stems largely from experiments such as those of Adolph (1969), which show an inverse relationship between age and survival following asphyxiation (Figure 1). Similar results showing an inverse relationship between age and survival of anoxia have been obtained in various mammalian species (Fazekas, Alexander, & Himwich, 1941). Such data led to the early belief that the immature organism relies predominantly on anaerobic metabolism, but they are probably more accurately interpreted as reflecting the lower brain-oxygen consumption of the fetus and the newborn than of the adult (Himwich, Baker, & Fazakas, 1939). As we unfortunately know from clinical experience and from a variety of experiments with animal subjects, the immature organism, under certain conditions, will survive hypoxia, but the central nervous system shows profound injury. Survival is clearly an inexact measure of resistance to injury. Still to be determined are the boundary conditions under which the immature brain first suffers hypoxic injury and the brain regions and the developmental processes that are most vulnerable.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Developmental Neurobiology Group, Laboratory of Behavioral and Neurological Toxicology, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, 27709, USA

    Charles F. Mactutus

  2. Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Hygiene and Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, 21205, USA

    Laurence D. Fechter

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  1. Charles F. Mactutus
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Albany, Albany, New York, USA

    Edward P. Riley

  2. Institute for Developmental Research, Children’s Hospital Research Foundation, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

    Charles V. Vorhees

  3. Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

    Charles V. Vorhees

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Mactutus, C.F., Fechter, L.D. (1986). Perinatal Hypoxia. In: Riley, E.P., Vorhees, C.V. (eds) Handbook of Behavioral Teratology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2189-7_18

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