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Chemoreceptor Function in the Fetus and Neonate

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Arterial Chemoreceptors

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 360))

Abstract

The last 15 years has seen an enormous increase in our understanding of arterial chemoreceptor function in fetal and neonatal life. This is of obvious clinical significance: both the identification of fetuses which are not adapting adequately to hypoxia in utero and the appropriate care of newborn, especially preterm, infants demands a thorough knowledge of the integrated chemoreflexes which the fetus and neonate mount. In this chapter, we review knowledge of arterial chemoreceptor responses to natural stimuli during development and the chemoreflexes which ensue. We then note the possible effects of pathophysiological processes (especially chronic hypoxaemia) on chemoreceptor function. Finally, we consider the implications of new knowledge on chemoreceptor function over the period for studies on the transduction mechanisms of arterial chemoreceptors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, UCL Medical School, 86-96 Chenies Mews, London, WC1E 6HX, UK

    Mark Hanson

  2. Department of Physiology, University of Birmingham Medical School, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK

    Prem Kumar

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  1. Mark Hanson
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Ronan G. O’Regan  & Philip Nolan  & 

  2. University of Edinburgh Medical School, Edinburgh, Scotland

    Daniel S. McQueen

  3. University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    David J. Paterson

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Hanson, M., Kumar, P. (1994). Chemoreceptor Function in the Fetus and Neonate. In: O’Regan, R.G., Nolan, P., McQueen, D.S., Paterson, D.J. (eds) Arterial Chemoreceptors. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 360. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2572-1_9

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