Arterial blood gases and acid-base balance in normal children.

Robinson (1) studied the effect of age on the arterial blood gases and the acid-base balance of normal males from 5 to 91 years of age. In addition to the well known increase in oxygen combining capacity which occurs during childhood and adolescence, Robinson found moderately lower mean values for hemoglobin saturation in adults above 40 years of age, and slightly higher mean values for arterial CO2 content and CO2 tension in adults as compared with children. In the case of the alkaline reserve, mean values varied between 21.2 and 22.2 millimols per liter for all age groups except the youngest. Robinson found unusually low values of alkaline reserve in children 4 to 6 years of age. The present study was undertaken to supplement the work of Robinson in the years of childhood and adolescence, in order to establish more firmly the range of variation that may be expected in healthy children, and to provide a basis for the study of arterial blood gases and acid base balance in disease.