A -year-old woman with a history of Sjögren syndrome comes to the clinic due to progressive generalized weakness and fatigue for the past month. Her blood pressure is mm Hg and her physical examination is unremarkable except for dry oral mucosa.
Laboratory studies show:
- Serum sodium: mEq/L
- Serum potassium: mEq/L
- Serum chloride: mEq/L
- Serum bicarbonate: mEq/L
- Urine sodium: mEq/L
- Urine potassium: mEq/L
- Urine chloride: mEq/L
The patient's serum anion gap is calculated to be mEq/L (normal: mEq/L), indicating a normal anion gap metabolic acidosis. To help determine whether the acidosis is due to renal or gastrointestinal etiology, what is this patient's calculated urine anion gap (in mEq/L)?
Cevap: 30 mEq/L
Cevap
30
The calculated urine anion gap (UAG) is mEq/L. The UAG is determined using the equation: . Plugging in the patient's urinary values yields mEq/L. In the setting of a normal anion gap metabolic acidosis, a positive UAG indicates that the kidneys are failing to excrete sufficient ammonium () and chloride () in the urine. This points to a renal etiology, specifically distal (Type 1) renal tubular acidosis, which strongly correlates with this patient's history of Sjögren syndrome and hypokalemia.
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Anahtar Kavram
The urine anion gap () helps differentiate causes of normal anion gap metabolic acidosis. A positive UAG indicates impaired renal acid excretion (e.g., Renal Tubular Acidosis), whereas a negative UAG indicates appropriate renal ammonium excretion in response to extrarenal bicarbonate loss (e.g., diarrhea).