Respiratory Alterations of Acid-base Equilibrium: Acute and Chronic Renal Response

Alterations of acid-base equilibrium are very common in critically ill patients. Thus, understanding their pathophysiology and the possible compensatory mechanisms acting in different organs may play an important role in better set the consequent clinical treatment. The lung and the kidney are the two principal actors of such regulations. Although the respiratory response to acid-base alterations is well understood, less information are available for what the renal system is concerned. Such lack of information is partially due to: 1) the historical consideration of the kidney as a "slow" organ, in response to variations in acid-base equilibrium; 2) the lack of a monitoring system to closely assess renal response.

Our group has recently developed a monitoring system aimed at analyzing, in a quasi-continuous and non-invasive manner (every 10 min) the urinary profile in terms of urinary pH and electrolyte concentrations (sodium, potassium, chloride, ammonium).

The investigators hypothesize that the renal system reacts to large as well as to minimal variations of the acid-base equilibrium (especially induced by a variation in the respiratory function) in a very fast way, modifying the urinary concentration (and therefore the urinary excretion) of ammonium and some electrolytes (especially chloride).