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Laryngeal closure following hypoxic gasps has been documented, but its efficacy in improving autoresuscitation capacity is unknown. We studied SWR/J mice who normally cannot autoresuscitate and the C57/BLJ strain who can. We evaluated the effects of elevated end-inspiratory lung volume immediately following a gasp. We compared upper airway-intact mice with tracheostomized mice in which the vocal cords are bypassed. We used the techniques of repeated autoresuscitate trials to test autoresuscitation capability. Both SWR/J and C57/BLJ mice could maintain elevated lung volume immediately after a gasp (breath holding). Such breath holding increased autoresuscitation ability in C57/BLJ mice but did not in SWR/J mice. In SWR/J mice, the duration of the breath holds was less than that in the C57/BLJ mice. These findings indicate that gasp-associated breath holding improves autoresuscitation capability during repeated autoresuscitation trials. Also, they show that SWR/J mice have a deficiency in central nervous system mechanisms regulating glottic closure during hypoxic gasping.

Rebreathing may impair ventilation and lead to sudden death among sleeping infants. To estimate the potential for rebreathing imposed by an infant's sleep microenvironment, we developed a mechanical model to assess the rate of CO2 dispersal away from an infant's face. We compared the mechanical model results with changes in arterial blood gases of rabbits. The rabbits breathed into the same microenvironments used for the model studies. In the rabbits, rebreathing (documented by capnometry) caused hypercarbia and in some cases death. The mechanical model consisted of the mannequin head positioned as in the rabbit studies and connected to a 100-ml syringe filled with CO2. CO2 was washed out of the system using 30-ml “breaths” (rate = 15/min). The half times (t1/2) for CO2 dispersal served to quantify the rebreathing potential of 16 items of bedding. The t1/2 values correlated with increments in the rabbits' arterial PCO2 (r = 0.789). The threshold for the increase in the rabbits' arterial PCO2 corresponded to t1/2 values of > or = 18.7 s; the 90% point for lethality in the rabbit model was 28.1 s. The mechanical model was also used to show the independent effects of softness and porosity of bedding on its rebreathing potential. By describing the potential for rebreathing within bedding, the mechanical model should be useful in future quantitative studies of infants' respiratory adaptation to sleep microenvironments.

The upper airway is vulnerable to collapse from negative intraluminal pressures during inspiration. The tongue muscles, the genioglossi and geniohyoids, by contracting during inspiration, appear to function to resist this collapse. This study supports the hypothesis that two cervical strap muscles, the sternohyoid and sternothyroid, have a similar function. First, phasic inspiratory electromyographic activity was recorded from the sternohyoid and sternothyroid muscles of nine anesthetized rabbits during tidal breathing. Furthermore, each muscle showed a progressive increase in electromyographic activity with airway occlusion. Second, in eight rabbits, by determining the amount of negative pressure required to collapse the upper airway (airway closing pressure determination), it was shown that upper airway stability improved with electrical stimulation of either the paired sternohyoid or sternothyroid muscles. In addition, in 12 freshly killed rabbits, mechanical tension, mimicking the contraction of either the sternohyoid or sternothyroid, improved airway stability. Finally, observations of the pharyngeal lumen utilizing a fiber-optic endoscope, revealed concentric narrowing of the oro- and nasopharynx when airway pressure was lowered and concentric widening when tension was increased in the sternohyoid or sternothyroid muscles. These findings support the hypothesis that phasic inspiratory contraction of the sternohyoid and sternothyroid muscles functions to resist pharyngeal airway collapse due to negative intraluminal pressures.

Tonic and phasic inspiratory genioglossus (GG) electromyographic activity (EMG) was recorded from 13 anesthetized rabbits during unstimulated breathing. Integrated GG EMG peaked earlier in inspiration and presented a more rounded contour than integrated diaphragmatic (DIA) EMG. Spontaneous augmented deep inspirations (sighs) showed a biphasic pattern in both GG and DIA EMGs. Hyperventilation abolished phasic inspiratory activity in the GG before the DIA, suggesting that the GG has a higher CO2 apneic point. Hypercapnia increased both EMGs; however, GG EMG increased more, as a percent of base line, than did DIA EMG. Oxygen breathing decreased GG more than DIA EMG; sodium cyanide injection and brief nitrogen breathing increased GG more than DIA EMG; carotid body denervation abolished these responses. Vagotomy abolished the Hering-Breuer inflation-inhibition reflex in both muscles, and tactile, visual, and auditory stimulation increased GG more than DIA EMG. Thus, the GG responses to chemoreceptor input and to nonspecific respiratory stimuli are qualitatively similar but quantitatively different from DIA responses. The relevance to mixed and obstructive apnea is discussed.

The ability of the extrathoracic airway (ETA) to remain open when exposed to negative pressure was investigated in rabbits. Postmortem, the ETA collapsed at -6.3 +/- 0.6 cmH2O whereas, during airway occlusion maneuvers in lightly anesthetized animals, it remained patent at pressures as low as -80 cmH2O. This discrepancy suggested that a neuromuscular mechanism maintains ETA patency. Four findings indicated that the genioglossus and geniohyoid muscles, which pull the tongue and hyoid bone anteriorly, help maintain ETA patency: 1) anterior movement of the hyoid bone increased the negative pressure at which the ETA collapsed postmortem, 2) ETA closure during occluded inspirations occurred after 12th nerve section abolished electromyographic activity in these muscles and 3) after deep anesthesia depressed such activity, and 4) closing pressure was linearly related to peak integrated electromyograms of the two muscles. After 12th nerve section, ETA closing pressure became more negative with progressive asphyxia greatly exceeding postmortem closing pressure, which suggests that other muscles also help maintain ETA patency. Blood gas tensions, respiratory system mechanoreceptors, and depth of anesthesia appear to influence genioglossus and geniohyoid activity.