The Acid-base Equilibrium of the Blood in Eclampsia

The most outstanding chemical findings, so far reported, in patients suffering from eclampsia are the decreased COz-combining power and the increased uric and lactic acids in the blood. The COz-combining power is often in the neighborhood of 20 volumes per cent, and it is not unusual to observe uric acid values above 10 mg. and lactic acid above 100 mg. per 100 cc. of blood (l-3). The hydrogen ion concentration of the blood has been determined in a few isolated cases of eclampsia (4, 5), but there has been no complete study of the acid-base equilibrium in this disease. It seemed to us that the markedly lowered COz-combining power, often observed in the eclamptic patient, may be evidence of a true acidosis. In this connection, one is sometimes impressed with the exceedingly short duration of the disease, ending in death. In this clinic, we have observed eclamptic patients dying 2 to 3 hours after the first convulsion; furthermore, all such patients had exceedingly low COz-combining power. These deaths may be due to a rapidly developing acidosis, and it is because of this probability that we undertook to make a complete study of the acid-base equilibrium in eclampsia.