BACKGROUND Clinicians calculate the anion gap (AG) and the strong ion difference (SID) to make acid-base diagnoses. The technology used is assumed to have limited impact. The authors hypothesized that different measurement technologies markedly affect AG and SID values. METHODS SID and AG were calculated using values from the point-of-care blood gas and electrolyte analyzer and the central ho...

BACKGROUND Some nephrologists have advocated an individualized approach to the prescription of bicarbonate hemodialysis. However, the utility of monthly serum bicarbonate levels for guiding and evaluating such treatment decisions has not been evaluated. We sought to define the variability of these measurements and to determine factors that are associated with month-to-month variability in pre-d...

BACKGROUND Intracellular magnesium ([Mg]i) plays an important role in the regulation of myocardial metabolism, contractility, and the maintenance of transsarcolemmal and intracellular ionic gradients. An understanding of the role of magnesium in the clinical setting, however, is hampered by the lack of an assay of intracellular tissue magnesium levels. METHODS AND RESULTS We used energy-dispe...

INTRODUCTION Metabolic acidosis during hemorrhagic shock is common and conventionally considered to be due to hyperlactatemia. There is increasing awareness, however, that other nonlactate, unmeasured anions contribute to this type of acidosis. METHODS Eleven anesthetized dogs were hemorrhaged to a mean arterial pressure of 45 mm Hg and were kept at this level until a metabolic oxygen debt of...

BACKGROUND Abnormalities in potassium levels can lead to several clinical difficulties in trauma patients admitted to the ICU. However, the significance of potassium abnormalities soon after admission in trauma patients has not yet been clearly delineated. The objective of this study was to describe the plasma potassium abnormalities in trauma patients on admission and to examine the clinical o...

We characterize the seasonal variation in the geochemical and isotopic content of the outflow of the Green Lake 5 rock glacier (RG5), located in the Green Lakes Valley of the Colorado Front Range, USA. Between June and August, the geochemical content of rock glacier outflow does not appear to differ substantially from that of other surface waters in the Green Lakes Valley. Thus, for this alpine...

INTRODUCTION Hypernatremia is a common problem in hospitalized patients and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. This study was designed to evaluate whether physicians follow the recommended guidelines for the rate of correction of hypernatremia of ≤0.5 mEq/L/hr and to evaluate the effect of the rate of correction of severe hypernatremia on the mortality of hospitalized patients. ...

Although the significance of acetate-free citrate with 3.0 mEq/L Ca-containing-dialysate (A(−)D) has been reported, its effective Ca level and the overtreatment needed to correct metabolic acidosis on the basis of serum whole parathyroid hormone (wPTH) and arterial pH have not been evaluated in detail. Furthermore, recent reports have suggested the beneficial effect of citrate on fatigue, which...

Phenytoin, a voltage-gated sodium channel (NaV channel) antagonist, reportedly inhibits arginine vasopressin (AVP) release from an isolated rat neurohypophysis. So far, it is uncertain whether phenytoin has a direct action on ectopic AVP-producing neuroendocrine tumors. We studied the effect of phenytoin on the release of copeptin, the C-terminal fragment of pro-AVP, and expression of AVP gene ...

INTRODUCTION Metabolic acidosis is common in patients with cardiac arrest and is conventionally considered to be essentially due to hyperlactatemia. However, hyperlactatemia alone fails to explain the cause of metabolic acidosis. Recently, the Stewart-Figge methodology has been found to be useful in explaining and quantifying acid-base changes in various clinical situations. This novel quantita...