Potential Inaccuracies in Chloride Measurements in Patients with Severe Metabolic Acidosis

Table 3

Differences in anion gap (AG) between the two analyzers for samples from patients with severe acidemia, end-stage renal disease, and lactic acidosis.

Patient cohort	Difference in AG (cAG − gAG)
Severe acidemia (𝑛=32)	5.0 ± 4.0 (1.0–24.0)
End-stage renal disease (𝑛=37)	4.6 ± 3.8 (1.0–24.0)
Lactic acidosis (𝑛=9)	6.3 ± 3.9 (1.0–13.0)

Values are means ± SD (range). cAG = Na⁺ (Central analyzer) − Cl⁻ (Central analyzer) − bicarbonate (HCO₃⁻), gAG = Na⁺ (Blood gas analyzer) − Cl⁻ (Blood gas analyzer) −  HCO₃⁻.