Scotopic Sensitivity with 10 per cent Oxygen

摘要

The night vision (scotopic) sensitivity of 6 subjects was measured while they were breathing either air (21% oxygen, PO2 160 torr) or 10% oxygen, balance nitrogen (PO2) 76 torr. Continuous monitoring showed that the mean oxygen content in the arterial blood (SaO2) dropped from 97% to 77% during the first seven minutes of breathing 10% oxygen, and there was a significant degradation of scotopic sensitivity. The reduced sensitivity was attributed solely to hypoxia with no contribution from hypocapnia. Keywords: Scotopic sensitivity; Hypoxia; Hypocapnia.