OBJECTIVE To compare pH and PCO2 values of simultaneously obtained arterial, arterialized capillary, and venous blood samples and also to compare oxygen saturation (ASaO2) measured in arterial blood and oxygen saturation by pulse oximetry (PSaO2). METHODS Prospective study was done in the children admitted in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of Christian Medical College Hospital Vellore, req...

Objective: Chloride is the major plasma anion. There are several methods available for the determination of serum chloride levels. Unfortunately these methods are sometimes not available in the urgent setting where values are needed. Here we describe...

Sodium heparin solution is widely used as an anticoagulant in blood gas analysis. Although alterations in blood gas measureIf heparin makes up 10% or more of the t ments may occur when small sample volumes are diluted by volume of a sample for blood gas anal. heparin,' 2 such errors are generally thought to be of theoretical important errors in the carbon dioxide pressi rather than practical im...

We describe how to prepare, store, and use a hemolyzed blood product for simultaneous pH, pCO2, and pO2 quality control. Tonometry of the blood product with two oxygen and two carbon dioxide concentrations resulted in consistent and reproducible values during 38 weeks. The resulting pH values were consistent and reproducible, demonstrating the metabolic acid-base stability of the blood product....

We compared three commercially supplied blood-gas quality control solutions ("contrIL," "G.A.S.," and "Quantra") and tonometered whole blood under research and service conditions in four hospital laboratories. In some situations Quantra and tonometered blood were comparably sensitive to problems with blood-gas instrument malfunctions (e.g., hydraulics or temperature control) but the aqueous buf...

My purpose in investigating the effect of hemolysis on the accurate assessment of catecholamines and DOPA concentrations by the “Cat-A-Kit” radioenzymic method was to provide a basis for rejecting hemolyzed specimens, and thereby reduce the ever-growing backlog of specimens awaiting analysis in my freezer. I was surprised and disappointed to find that I could not discard hemolyzed samples as be...

We have used equilibrated human blood for blood-gas quality control since 1970. In blood equilibrated 24 h after shedding, gas tensions are stable for 4 to 6 h at 0 to 4 degrees C; each control specimen is analyzed several times during that period to resolve malfunctions, etc. Three-fourths of all errors in gas-tension measurement detected with equilibrated blood were detected with the highest-...