[Respiratory hypoxia as a heart failure complication in patients with acquired heart defects operated on with artificial circulation and its treatment by artificial pulmonary ventilation with positive expiratory pressure].

The pulmonary gas exchange was studied in 148 patients with prosthesis of the cardiac valves during progressing cardiac insufficiency. It was established that with the increase of cardiac insufficiency respiratory disorders also increase, mainly at the expense of the increase of the intrapulmonary arterio-venous shunting of the blood. The use of artificial lung ventilation with positive expiratory pressure in the post-operative period decreases intrapulmonary shunting, thus increasing the partial pressure and oxygen saturation of the arterial blood, and does not exert depressing action on the cardiac activity.