Oxygen Affinity of Hemoglobin in Patients with Cardiovascular Diseases, Anemia, and Cirrhosis of the Liver

Abstract

The partial pressure of oxygen corresponding to the 50 per cent oxyhemoglobin level of hemoglobin was determined in normal subjects and patients with cardiovascular diseases, anemias, and cirrhosis of the liver. Patients with cardiovascular diseases who did not smoke exhibited no alterations in the T₅₀ value when compared to normal subjects. When T₅₀ values of patients who smoked were corrected for the presence of carboxyhemoglobin in the blood, there were no differences from the normal smoking subjects' T₅₀ values similarly corrected. Carboxyhemoglobin values of cardiovascular disease patients who smoked were significantly higher than normal smokers' values. Patients with anemias and cirrhosis exhibited a lower affinity for oxygen by hemoglobin than normals.