Step I Umm,,,, am I missing something here?

[Knicks]

I'm reading the Kaplan Physiology book (2006-2007; 7-book set) and on page 385 it talks about Plasma Anion Gap (PAG).

It says (I'm leaving out the units):

Normal Values

Na= 140

Cl= 108

HCO3= 24

PAG= Na - (Cl + HCO3)

PAG= 12



Ummmmm, if you plug those values into that equation, you get PAG= 8.

Either I am atrocious at algebra, Kaplan made a mistake, or I'm missing something.

 

[peter90036]

i think the WNL is 12 +/- 4
😀

 

[tfom08]

It's because technically you should include K+ in the PAG but for simplicity it's often left out since Na+ is much larger.

 

[Knicks]

It's because technically you should include K+ in the PAG but for simplicity it's often left out since Na+ is much larger.

Thanks. 👍

 

[UditNarayan]

seems like you understand the concept of anion gap, so thats good enough.