This article discusses the use of citrate anticoagulation during continuous renal replacement therapies (CRRTs) which are prescribed for patients with severe acute kidney injury (AKI). Where heparin was traditionally the anticoagulant of choice for CRRT, regional citrate anticoagulation (RCA) has now emerged as the...

Reprinted with permission from Biochemia Medica. The journal of Croatian Society of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine. Biochemia Medica 2016;26(3):318-36  Blood gas analysis (BGA) is exposed to risks of errors caused by improper sampling, transport and storage conditions. The Clinical and Laboratory...

Blood gas analysis involves three measurements: blood pH, partial pressure of carbon dioxide in blood plasma (pCO₂) and partial pressure of oxygen in blood plasma (pO₂). The first two, pH and pCO₂ along with other derived (calculated) parameters (bicarbonate, base excess) generated during blood gas analysis allow...

Nationwide harmonization of clinical laboratory practice is a stated strategic goal of the Croatian Society of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CSMBLM). In 2013, a CSMBLM working group conducted a nationwide survey of all aspects of blood gas testing practice in Croatian hospital laboratories.  This...

The blood gas analyzer has an established role in the delivery suite of obstetric units. Measurement of umbilical cord blood pH and base excess provides objective evidence of the metabolic condition of newborn babies at the moment of birth.  Specifically, it allows identification of those with significant metabolic...

Dyspnea (alternative names: breathlessness and shortness of breath) is a common reason for individuals to seek medical help either in primary care or the hospital emergency room. The possible causes are legion, so that assessment of the patient complaining of breathlessness is a common and often difficult diagnostic...

Cardiac arrest, the ultimate medical emergency, is cessation of blood flow to all tissues due to sudden failure of the heart to contract (pump) effectively, evident as absence of a palpable carotid pulse. A major consequential symptom is ineffective or absent breathing and therefore no pulmonary gas exchange. Reduced...

Poisoning by drugs and non-medicinal chemicals can cause a variety of disturbances to acid-base homeostasis, so that the initial emergency room (ER) assessment of poisoned patients often includes arterial blood gas analysis. This recently published clinical study of acid-base disturbances in poisoned patients was...

Blood gas analysis, which involves measurement of three parameters: blood pH, pCO₂ and pO₂, is almost unique among routine blood tests in its requirement for arterial blood. All other blood tests are performed on venous blood or occasionally, capillary blood. Collection of arterial blood is technically more demanding ...

Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), which is an acute, potentially life-threatening complication of poorly controlled diabetes, is the subject of a recent comprehensive review article.   The authors discuss epidemiological issues, revealing increasing incidence of DKA and decreasing mortality.  Once inevitably fatal, DKA...