The most likely cause of respiratory alkalosis in newborns is illness or a congenital disorder that causes the newborn to experience respiratory difficulties resulting in rapid, shallow breathing, or hyperventilation. Some of these medical conditions include pneumonia, high fever, congenital lung malformation, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, meconium aspiration and lung agenesis. While respiratory alkalosis by itself is not life endangering, the condition causing hyperventilation might be dangerous to the newborn's health, requiring immediate intervention in order to return a normal alkaline content to the infant's bloodstream.
Respiratory Alkalosis
Acidity levels of the blood are constantly maintained by the lungs and kidneys. While the kidneys eliminate acid through urine output, the lungs accomplish the same task by ridding the body of acid through exhalation of carbon dioxide. Essentially, the blood turns much more alkaline than acid during respiratory alkalosis. When an individual starts to inhale and exhale rapidly because of anxiety or illness, hyperventilation occurs causing respiratory alkalosis. Oxygen does not stay in the lungs long enough to be assimilated into the blood, creating a decrease in the amount of carbon dioxide in the body. Symptoms of dizziness, light-headedness, tingling or numbness of the extremities and occasionally muscle spasms and unconsciousness affect the individual.
Signs of Respiratory Alkalosis
Infants suffering from respiratory alkalosis experience symptoms directly caused by the reduced level of carbon dioxide in the body, including a disruption of the calcium ion equilibrium and and unconsciousness. Blood pH levels dramatically fluctuate in order to counterbalance for what the body thinks is an incoming flood of lactic acid, a chemical produced by muscles under stressful circumstances. Infants suffering from this intense shifting of acid levels might experience burning sensations throughout the body, as well as depressed functioning of the central nervous system. However, accurate diagnosis of respiratory alkalosis in infants depends wholly on arterial blood gas interpretation.
Diagnosis of Newborn Respiratory Alkalosis
Testing the amount of arterial blood gas in a newborn's system is necessary to confirm the presence of respiratory alkalosis. This test will also negate the possibility of metabolic acidosis, which necessitates respiratory compensation. If the condition causing the newborn to hyperventilate enough to profoundly disturb blood acid levels is not resolved, severe respiratory alkalosis can induce heart arrhythmias, seizures or even brain damage in newborns. Depending on what is producing the respiratory alkalosis, a sedative may be given to the infant in an attempt to reduce rapid breathing and allow oxygen to infiltrate the lungs more deeply and evenly.
Recovery
If the underlying cause of newborn respiratory alkalosis is successfully treated, recovery is usually free of prolonged conditions that are detrimental to the child's future health. In fact, maintaining a slightly higher than normal alkaline level in the body seems to assist the immune system in warding off diseases. This is due to the inability of bacteria and other pathogens to thrive in an acidic environment. Newborns, however, need to be strictly monitored when it involves their alkaline and acid levels because they easily become under- and over-ventilated.
