PHILO CALHOUN, M.D.
To the editor: Drs. Sklar and Linas conclude that their study reaffirms the sensitivity of osmolar gap determinations in identifying patients with ethylene glycol intoxication (1). Because their report did not look at patients with ethylene glycol poisoning the authors must have been attempting to show the specificity of the test rather than the sensitivity. However, their graph shows averages of calculated and measured osmolality rather than the average of differences (calculated osmolar gap). Also, because their data is not paired, it is difficult to determine the variability of calculated osmolar gap in patients with acute or chronic renal failure.
CALHOUN P. The Osmolal Gap in Renal Failure. Ann Intern Med. ;99:283. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-99-2-283_2
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© 2018
Published: Ann Intern Med. 1983;99(2):283.
DOI: 10.7326/0003-4819-99-2-283_2