About CLSIâs Subcommittee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (AST) The goal of the Subcommittee on AST is to provide useful information to enable laboratories to assist the clinician in selecting appropriate antimicrobial therapy for the best patient care.
Respiratory alkalosis. Respiratory alkalosis develops when rapid, deep breathing (hyperventilation) causes too much carbon dioxide to be expelled from the bloodstream. The most common cause of hyperventilation, and thus respiratory alkalosis, is anxiety. Other causes of hyperventilation and consequent respiratory alkalosis include pain, low levels of oxygen in the blood, fever, and aspirin overdose (which can also cause metabolic acidosis).
Loss of gastric acid (vomiting, NG drainage) and diuretic use account for 90% of clinical cases of metabolic alkalosis. Gastric alkalosis is most marked with vomiting due to pyloric stenosis or obstruction because the vomitus is acidic gastric juice only.Vomiting in other conditions may involve a mixture of acid gastric loss and alkaline duodenal contents and the acid-base situation that results is more variable.istamine H2-blockers also decrease gastric H + losses despite continued vomiting or nasogastric drainage and alkalosis will not occur if the fluid lost is not particularly acidic-indeed loss of alkaline small intestinal contents can even result in an acidosis if gastric acid secretion is suppressed.