NBME 20 Answers : Block 4 : #31 = A 48-year-old man is brought to the emergency ...

+2 upvote downvote
submitted by hayayah(399),

Iron overdose is a cause of a high anion gap metabolic acidosis.

meningitis I found this to add a little bit more explanation as to how it causes the acidosis if anyone needs it. 1. Mitochondrial toxicity - decreases aerobic respiration and shunts to lactic acid production 2. Cardio toxicity (Secondary to Mitochondrial toxicity) leads to cardiogenic shock (hypoperfusion), which causes lactic acidosis 3. Hepatotoxicity - Decreases lactate metabolism, causing lactic acidosis 4. When in trivalent form (Fe+3), it can react with 3 molecules of H2O --> FeOH3 + 3H+ This will then deplete Bicarb buffering system resulting in non-gap acidosis. Source: https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/iron-poisoning-anion-gap-or-non-anion-gap-acidosis.958285/ +7

sympathetikey None of the other choices were even metabolic acidosis. They threw us a bone with this one. +

imnotarobotbut Don't changes in bicarb take a few days? How did his bicarb drop down to 8 in 12 hours? +

charcot_bouchard its met acidsis. not compensation +1