Posted: October 9th, 2017

A young woman is found comatose, having taken an unknown number of sleeping pills an unknown time before. An arterial blood sample yields the following values: pH 6.90, HCO3- 13 meq/liter and PaCO2 68 mmHg. This patient’s acid-base status is most accurately described as:

A young woman is found comatose, having taken an unknown number of sleeping pills an unknown time before. An arterial blood sample yields the following values: pH 6.90, HCO3- 13 meq/liter and PaCO2 68 mmHg. This patient’s acid-base status is most accurately described as:

A. Metabolic Acidosis
B. Respiratory Acidosis
C. Simultaneous Respiratory and Metabolic Acidosis
D. Respiratory Acidosis with Complete Renal Compensation