Pre-term birth might result in life-long anatomical and functional respiratory system sequalae. Reduced hypoxic ventilatory response, most probably related to insufficiently developed lungs and respiratory system control, is consistently observed in pre-term infants, whereas subsistence of respiratory system sequalae with ageing remains unclear. Moreover, the effects of prematurity on hypoxic exercise capacity remains poorly investigated. While some recent studies have investigated the effects of hypoxia on exercise capacity and ventilatory response in adults but not in children. Accordingly, the aim of the present study was to assess maximal aerobic power as well as exercise cardiorespiratory responses in prematurely born children (aged 8 to 10 years) and their full term born matched counterparts. Fifteen prematurely born children (gestational age = 29 2 weeks; gestation weight = 1202 184 g) and fourteen age matched controls born at full term (gestational age = 39 1 weeks; gestation weight = 3270 307 g) participated in the study. All children underwent two graded exercise tests to volitional exhaustion in randomised manner, one in (1) normoxia (FiO2 = 0,21) and the other in (2) normobaric hypoxia (FiO2 = 0,13) to compare the hypoxia-related effects on maximal aerobic power and selected cardio-respiratory parameters between the groups and the two conditions. Hypoxia-related reduction in maximal aerobic power (pre-term group -23%; full-term group -26%; p < 0,001) and peak oxygen uptake (pre-term -6%; p > 0,05; full-term -12%; p < 0,05) was comparable between the pre-term and full-term born children. No differences were also noted in the ventilatory response to hypoxia during the exercise test. The only exception being tidal volume, which was lower in pre-term group at 75% of maximal aerobic power (p=0,03). In normoxia, differences between the groups were noted in tidal volume, ventilation and consequently also oxygen uptake aa well as CO2 output (p < 0,05). No between-group differences were noted in heart rate modulation during hypoxic exercise. Present results do not indicate that healthy, prematurely born children should not engage in acute hypoxic exercise. Nevertheless, the potential negative effects of terrestrial (real) altitude exposure as well as prolonged altitude exposure warrant further investigation.
|