Arterial blood gas analysis includes measurement of partial pressure of oxygen (pO₂(a)) and calculation of oxygen saturation (sO₂(a)), both useful for assessing patient oxygenation status. Hypoxemia is diagnosed if pO₂(a) is below the lower limit of the reference range (10.6 kPa, 88 mmHg). Pseudo-hypoxemia is...

Of all blood chemistry parameters, sodium is one of the most frequently measured among hospitalized patients, including those admitted to critical care units. The assay is generally available on point-of-care analyzers sited in these units. Incidence of abnormality in plasma sodium concentration among critically ill...

Raised blood glucose (hyperglycemia) is a common feature of critical illness, irrespective of diabetes status. A landmark Belgian study conducted in 2001 demonstrated that this hyperglycemia is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. As a result of that study maintenance of normal blood glucose, with...

The prognostic value of measuring umbilical cord blood pH at birth is examined in a recent meta-analysis study. Cord blood acidosis (usually defined as cord blood pH <7.0) is considered evidence that the newborn baby was deprived of oxygen during labor, and in some maternity units cord blood pH is used in the...

Metabolic acidosis, the most common disturbance of acid-base balance among the critically ill, is characterized by arterial blood gas results that reveal primary decrease in bicarbonate and compensatory decrease in pCO₂(a). Blood pH is reduced unless respiratory compensation is complete. It is most often the result of ...

In about 30-40 % of ischemic strokes, even after an extensive clinical investigation, it is not possible to determine any one etiology. It is possible that a fraction of these strokes, named cryptogenic, happen after an episode of paroxystic atrial fibrillation (AF) that was not registered. Strokes due to atrial...

PURPOSE – The purpose of this paper is to show how over the last 18 months Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust have been exploring whether or not lean methodologies, often known as the Toyota Production System, can indeed be applied to healthcare. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH – This paper is a viewpoint. FINDINGS – One’s...

CONTEXT: Sensitive D-dimer assays have been developed to exclude the diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and have exhibited great success when used in conjunction with a diagnostic algorithm, including pretest probability scoring and a compression ultrasound (CUS). Improving specificity of D-dimer assays would...

Plasma electrolytes, which include sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium and magnesium, are among the most frequently measured blood analytes in clinical medicine. All are measured by ion-selective electrodes (ISE). ISEs are present not only in clinical laboratory instrumentation but also in blood gas analyzers and...

The significance of preanalytical technique for accurate arterial blood gas analysis is the focus of a recently published study. The authors of this study sought to quantitate the analytical error associated with collection of venous rather than arterial blood, delay in arterial blood analysis and contamination of...