Chlorides of Serum, Blood, and Corpuscles in Various Pathological Conditions

Norgaard and Gram (l), studying the chlorides of the plasma, blood, and corpuscles in anemia and polycythemia, found consistently a fall in blood chloride with rising cell volume and vice versa. The concentration of chloride in the cells was approximately only half of that in the serum. The only significant variation in this series was a decrease in cell chlorides in some of the cases of pernicious anemia, so that the average cell chloride in this disease was 1oWer than the average normal value (0.31 per cent NaCl). Later Gram (2) reported a considerable decrease of serum chloride in several diseases, notably in diabetes, pneumonia, uremia, and some cases of nephritis. Buckman.and Edwards (3) reported a consistent decrease in cell chloride concentration with decreasing cell volume, not only in pernicious, but in all cases of anemia and an increase in cell chloride concentration in cases of polycythemia. In view of these findings it has seemed desirable to study the chloride concentration in serum, cells, and whole blood in cases with (1) low serum chloride and (2) anemias and polycythemias.