PEDIATRICS Vol. 10 No. 6 December 1952, pp. 694-701
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ALTERATIONS IN BLOOD CHEMISTRY CAUSED BY DIARRHEA DURING INFANCY AS DETERMINED BY DIRECT ANALYSIS OF PLASMA AND ERYTHROCYTES

JAMES N. ETTELDORF M.D.1, FONTAINE S. HILL M.D.1, A. H. TUTTLE M.D.1, DACIO PINHEIRO M.D.2, ANNE C. BASS B.S.1, and R. R. OVERMAN PH.D.1

1 The Division of Pediatrics and the Laboratory of Clinical Physiology, Institute of Clinical Investigation, College of Medicine, University of Tennessee and the Department of Pediatrics, John Gaston Hospital, Memphis.
2 The Division of Pediatrics and the Laboratory of Clinical Physiology, Institute of Clinical Investigation, College of Medicine, University of Tennessee and the Department of Pediatrics, John Gaston Hospital, Memphis., Mead Johnson Fellow from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

By direct chemical and physical-chemical analyses, plasma and erythrocyte sodium, potassium and chloride concentrations, plasma calcium, bicarbonate and protein concentrations, and the blood NPN have been determined on infants between the ages of 2 and 15 months with severe diarrhea.

Considerable range and inconsistent changes serve to demonstrate that it is impossible to predict with certainty any definite relationship between the alterations in the various ions in individual cases.

A significant or near-significant reduction in the mean plasma Na occurred in infants with diarrhea under 11 months of age; the plasma K and Cl and the erythrocyte K definitely tend to be reduced, whereas the erythrocyte Na tends with few exceptions to show only a slight increase during diarrhea.

The plasma HCO3 was always reduced and usually significantly so. The degree of acidosis and to a somewhat less extent the decrease in erythrocyte K were related to the severity of the diarrhea.

Significant increases in the blood NPN and plasma protein were usually observed.

The value of the erythrocyte as a practical medium for gauging intracellular ionic alterations which occur during diarrhea is discussed briefly.

Submitted on April 11, 1952