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).
Miscellaneous causes of metabolic alkalosis include villous adenomas, which are a rare cause of diarrhea. Villous adenomas usually lead to metabolic acidosis from loss of colonic secretions that are rich in bicarbonate, but occasionally these tumors cause metabolic alkalosis. The mechanism is not well understood.ydrogen ions may be lost through the kidneys or the GI tract. Vomiting or nasogastric (NG) suction generates metabolic alkalosis by the loss of gastric secretions, which are rich in hydrochloric acid (HCl). Whenever a hydrogen ion is excreted, a bicarbonate ion is gained in the extracellular space.