FIGURE 2.

Effects of acetazolamide on control of breathing based on meta‐analyses. Assuming acetazolamide causes no change in CO₂ production (i.e., no change in isometabolic curve) and chemosensitivity slope, but a left shift of apnea threshold by 15% (i.e., −5 mmHg, based on the baseline conditions described in Figure 1). Note that eupneic ventilation occurs at a steeper portion of the isometabolic curve (i.e., lower plant gain) and that the reduction in paCO₂ at eupneic ventilation (−4.4 mmHg; −11%) is less than the reduction of the apnea threshold, thus increasing the CO₂ and ventilatory (VA) reserves