Mecija, Kathleen Diane B.

BSMT-ME3-0
ACID-BASE BALANCE
1. Which of the following blood gas parameters are measured directly by
the blood gas analyzer electrochemically as opposed to being
calculated by the instrument?
A. pH, HCO-3, total CO2
B. pCO2, HCO-3, PO2
C. pH, PCO2, PO2
D. PO2, HCO-3, total CO2
2. In order to maintain electrical neutrality in red blood cell, bicarbonate
leaves the red blood cell and enters the plasma through an exchange
mechanism with what electrolyte?
A. Sodium
B. Potassium
C. Chloride
D. Phosphate
3. How would blood gas parameters change if a sealed specimen is left at
room temperature for 2 or more hours?
A. PO2 increases, pCO2 increases, pH increases
B. PO2 decreases, pCO2 decreases, pH decreases
C. PO2 decreases, pCO2 increases, pH decreases
D. PO2 increases, pCO2 increases, pH decreases
ANSWER:
1. C. pH, PCO2 and PO2 are measured directly from the specimen by
utilizing electrodes.
2. C. The red blood cell membrane is permeable to both bicarbonate
and chloride ions. Chloride ions participate in buffering in the blood
by diffusing out of or into red blood cells to compensate for ionic
change that occurs when bicarbonate enters or leaves the red blood
cell. This is called Chloride shift
3. C. Glycolysis and other oxidative metabolic processes will continue
in vitro by red blood cells when a whole blood specimen is left
standing at room temperature. The increased production of carbonic
acid and lactic acid during glycolysis contributes to the decrease in
blood pH.
REFERENCE: SUCCESS! in Clinical Laboratory Science (Fourth Edition)
Anna Cuilla and Donald Lehman

TRACE ELEMENT
1. This trace element resembles Parkinsons disease?
A. Iron
B. Selenium
C. Molybdenum
D. Manganese
2. What is the preferred specimen for detecting lead?
A. Arterial blood gas
B. Capillary blood
C. Plasma
D. Venous whole blood
3. Iron that could be bound with transferrin and other binding protein.
A. % Saturation
B. Ferritin
C. Transferrin saturation
D. Total iron binding capacity
ANSWER:
1. D.
2. D. Because circulating lead is predominately associated with RBCs
3. D.

REFERENCE: Clinical Chemistry (Techniques, Principle, Correlations)

Michael Bishop