1 Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center, 111 East 210th Street, Bronx, New York 10467
Dr. Harris brings up some important points and correctly is concerned about the clinical application of animal studies. The solution of sodium chloride that we used has an osmolality about 2.8 times higher than the sodium bicarbonate solution in common usage. This difference in concentration does not have a proportionate physiological effect since the shifts in body water produced by a given amount of solute are not linearly related to its osmolality. Four milliliters of a 2.5 M solution contains 10 mEq, while it takes 11.1 ml of a 0.9 M solution to contain the same amount.