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Respiratory alkalosis
Classification & external resources

Davenport diagram
ICD-10	E87.3
ICD-9	276.3
DiseasesDB	406
MedlinePlus	000111
eMedicine	med/2009
MeSH	D000472

Respiratory alkalosis results from increased alveolar respiration (hyperventilation) leading to decreased plasma carbon dioxide concentration. This leads to decreased hydrogen ion and bicarbonate concentrations. This can occur when a person moves from sea level to high altitudes.

Contents 1 Types 2 Causes 3 Symptoms 4 See also

There are two types of respiratory alkalosis: chronic and acute.

• In acute respiratory alkalosis, increased levels of carbon dioxide are "blown off" by the lungs, which are hyperventilating. During acute respiratory alkalosis, the person may lose consciousness where the rate of ventilation will resume to normal.

• In chronic respiratory alkalosis, for every 10 mM drop in pCO₂ in blood, there is a corresponding 5 mM of bicarbonate ion drop. The drop of 5 mM of bicarbonate ion is a compensation effect which reduces the alkalosis effect of the drop in pCO₂ in blood. This is termed metabolic compensation.

Causes of the alveolar hyperventilation seen in respiratory alkalosis include:

• anxiety, hysteria and stress
• moving into high altitude areas, when the low atmospheric pressure of oxygen stimulates increased ventilation
• pyrexia in fever, which stimulates the respiratory centre in the brainstem
• drugs, including doxapram and large doses of aspirin, which also stimulate the respiratory centre
• CNS causes, including stroke, subarachnoid haemorrhage, meningitis
• pregnancy
• a hypoxic drive in lung disease, such as pneumonia
• caffeine overdose and coffee abuse

In addition, a respiratory alkalosis is often produced accidentally by doctors (iatrogenically) during mechanical ventilation of patients.

Symptoms of respiratory alkalosis are related to the decreased blood carbon dioxide levels, and include peripheral paraesthesiae. In addition, the alkolosis may disrupt calcium ion balance, and cause the symptoms of hypocalcaemia (such as tetany) with no fall in total serum calcium levels.

• Metabolic alkalosis
• Respiratory acidosis
• Hypocalcemia

v • d • e Metabolic pathology (E70-90)
Amino acid	Phenylketonuria - Alkaptonuria - Ochronosis - Tyrosinemia - Maple syrup urine disease - Propionic acidemia - Methylmalonic acidemia - Isovaleric acidemia - Primary carnitine deficiency - Cystinuria - Cystinosis - Hartnup disease - Homocystinuria - Citrullinemia - Hyperammonemia - Glutaric acidemia type 1
Carbohydrate	Lactose intolerance - Glycogen storage disease (type I, type II, type III, type IV, type V, type VI), Fructose intolerance, Galactosemia
Lipid	Lipid storage disorders Sphingolipidoses: Gangliosidosis - GM2 gangliosidoses (Sandhoff disease, Tay-Sachs disease) - GM1 gangliosidoses - Mucolipidosis type IV - Gaucher's disease - Niemann-Pick disease - Farber disease - Fabry's disease - Metachromatic leukodystrophy - Krabbe disease Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (Batten disease) - Cerebrotendineous xanthomatosis - Cholesteryl ester storage disease (Wolman disease) Hyperlipidemia - Hypercholesterolemia - Familial hypercholesterolemia - Xanthoma - Combined hyperlipidemia - Lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase deficiency - Tangier disease - Abetalipoproteinemia
Mineral	Cu Wilson's disease/Menkes disease - Fe Haemochromatosis - Zn Acrodermatitis enteropathica - PO43− Hypophosphatemia/Hypophosphatasia - Mg2+ Hypermagnesemia/Hypomagnesemia - Ca2+ Hypercalcaemia/Hypocalcaemia/Disorders of calcium metabolism
Fluid, electrolyte and acid-base balance	Electrolyte disturbance - Na+ Hypernatremia/Hyponatremia - Acidosis (Metabolic, Respiratory, Lactic) - Alkalosis (Metabolic, Respiratory) - Mixed disorder of acid-base balance - H2O Dehydration/Hypervolemia - K+ Hypokalemia/Hyperkalemia - Cl− Hyperchloremia/Hypochloremia
Porphyrin and bilirubin	Acatalasia - Gilbert's syndrome - Crigler-Najjar syndrome - Dubin-Johnson syndrome - Rotor syndrome - Porphyria (Acute intermittent porphyria, Gunther's disease, Porphyria cutanea tarda, Erythropoietic protoporphyria, Hepatoerythropoietic porphyria, Hereditary coproporphyria, Variegate porphyria)
Glycosaminoglycan	Mucopolysaccharidosis - Hurler syndrome - Hunter syndrome - Sanfilippo syndrome - Morquio syndrome
Glycoprotein	I-cell disease - Pseudo-Hurler polydystrophy - Aspartylglucosaminuria - Fucosidosis - Alpha-mannosidosis - Sialidosis
Other	Alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency - Cystic fibrosis - Familial Mediterranean fever - Lesch-Nyhan syndrome