Abstract
Metabolic acidosis is broadly defined as a condition characterized by an arterial pH below 7.35 in the absence of hypercapnia. There are several varieties of metabolic acidosis, and one method of classification is on the basis of the anion gap. The “anion gap” (AG) is defined as the difference between the blood concentration of sodium (Na) minus those of chloride (Cl) and bicarbonate (HCO3) (39,69). Thus, metabolic acidosis can be classified according to whether the AG is normal, low, or elevated. Increased AG metabolic acidosis includes those disorders of acid—base metabolism where there is acidosis because of the presence of increased quantities of organic acid(s). Such organic acids may be either endogenous (keto acids, lactic acid) or exogenous (salicylate, paraldehyde). Those forms of metabolic acidosis with normal to low AG are primarily the renal tubular acidoses, which are not discussed in this chapter. In equation form, the AG can be defined as in equation 1, below.
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Arieff, A.I. (1992). Pathogenesis of Metabolic Acidosis with Hypoxia. In: Arieff, A.I. (eds) Hypoxia, Metabolic Acidosis, and the Circulation. Clinical Physiology Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7542-2_7
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