Topic summary
Acid–base imbalance
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Acid–base disorder.
Acid–base imbalance is an abnormality of the human body's normal balance of acids and bases that causes the plasmapH to deviate out of the normal range (7.35 to 7.45). In the fetus, the normal range differs based on which umbilical vessel is sampled (umbilical vein pH is normally 7.25 to 7.45; umbilical artery pH is normally 7.18 to 7.38). It can exist in varying levels of severity, some life-threatening.