Abstract
To the Editor: I read with dismay yet another article suggesting that pK' in the H2C03/HC03 - buffer system varies widely from predicted values in "acutely ill" patients (April 8 issue).1 The evidence for this proposition is minimal. Although six references are cited, the data suggesting that a pK' of 6.1 cannot be relied on to calculate bicarbonate concentration from pH and carbon dioxide tension (PC02) in acutely ill patients rest almost entirely on two reports,2 , 3 one of which is only a letter to the editor.2 The conclusion that the pK' is deviant obviously . . .

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