The article deals with calculation of oxygen consumption in the lungs by means of breathing gas mixture analysis and in parallel--in the systemic circulation by reverse Fick method; 32 paired measurements were performed in 8 patients after cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. The mean pulmonary oxygen consumption was higher than the same value calculated by the reverse Fick principle--148.4 +/- 39.9 ml x min(-1) x m(-2) and 120 +/- 35.1 ml x min(-1) x m(-2), respectively, the mean difference between two methods was 28.4 +/- 18.4 ml x min(-1) x m(-2). However, in two observations the interrelation was inversed. While analyzing physiological and methodological reasons for these differences, the authors concluded that, despite both methods can be used in monitoring systemic oxygen transport in the critically ill, they are not interchangeable, and valuable additional data could be derived from fast changes in lungs oxygen uptake.