The article mentions 40% O2 sat to 80 or 90%; aren't the latter still really low? I'm certainly no doctor, but wikipedia[1] claims "Prolonged hypoxia induces neuronal cell death via apoptosis, resulting in a hypoxic brain injury" and suggests that 80-85% is considered severe and 86-90% moderate.
Granted, both are a hell of a lot better than 40%!
It adds, "Mild and moderate cerebral hypoxia generally has no impact beyond the episode of hypoxia; on the other hand, the outcome of severe cerebral hypoxia will depend on the success of damage control, amount of brain tissue deprived of oxygen, and the speed with which oxygen was restored."
So I guess my questions are:
* How does this stack up against an intubated ventilator, assuming one is available?
* My understanding is the patients needing respiratory support are often on ventilation for 1-2 weeks; how much damage would one expect from having severe hypoxia for that duration?