Plasma and blood volume studies in malnourished iraqi children.

I . The plasma and blood volumes of twenty-eight Iraqi children were measured. Twentyfour of them were malnourished in varying degrees and four were normal children who acted as controls. None of the children was anaemic. 2. Therc was an increase in the plasma and blood volumes per unit body-weight correlating with the degree of malnourishment (P < 0.001). 3. There was little variation in the values for plasma and blood volumes when calculated pcr unit body length; the values were less constant when calculated per unit body surface. 4. The effect of age on the plasma and blood volumes per unit body-weight was less than the effect of the degree of malnutrition. 5. There was no correlation between the plasma volume of malnourished children and their corrected venous haematocrit, if children with severe anaemia were excluded.