The measurement and interpretation of arterial blood gases have become a standard part of the management of a great variety of clinical problems. Since arterial blood represents an integrated pulmonary venous sample, these measurements provide information about pulmonary gas transfer and provide data required for calculation of arterial O2 and CO2 content.
The authors have used a computer program to develop Dill nomograms, which accurately describe the complex but physicochemically determined interrelations between PO2, PCO2, pH, hemoglobin concentration, base excess, red cell O2 affinity (P50), and the CO2 and O2 content of blood. About 50 pages are devoted to these