Elsevier

Kidney International

Volume 1, Issue 5, May 1972, Pages 375-389
Kidney International

Symposium on acid-base homeostasis
The effects of acid-base disturbances on cardiovascular and pulmonary function

https://doi.org/10.1038/ki.1972.48Get rights and content
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Disturbances in acid-base balance are commonly met problems in clinical medicine and decisions about their treatment are of great importance in patients with cardiopulmonary problems, in whom acid-base disturbances may be especially critical.Similarly, cardiopulmonary function may be significantly compromised even in patients with no intrinsic heart or lung disease, in the face of acid-base disturbances.It is essential, therefore, to understand the physiological consequences of these disturbances on the cardiovascular and pulmonary system.

Of major importance is the effect of acid-base disturbances on the delivery of oxygen to the various tissue cells of the body.In order to understand all the pathophysiological mechanisms involved it is necessary to review the effects of acid-base changes on the heart, the peripheral vessels, the lungs, and the diffusion of oxygen between air, blood, and tissues.

The requirement for oxygen by the various tissue cells of the body is met by the combined cardiovascular and pulmonary systems, which function as a unit termed the “oxygen transport system” of the body.The movement of oxygen from the ambient air to the tissue cells involves ventilation, pulmonary perfusion, diffusion, oxygen-carrying capacity of hemoglobin, cardiac output (including cardiac muscle performance), systemic distribution of flow, and finally the oxygen delivery capacity of hemoglobin.It is important to understand the effects of changes in pH on each of these steps in the chain.

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