On Wed, 23 Jan 2008 17:44:16 -0800, Dan Abel > wrote:

>Two days after the ER, the web page showed my blood test sodium to be
>129 mEq/L, with normal defined as 133-145*mEq/L. I have no idea how to
>relate these numbers to the .9%. I would be interested if you know.

One equivalent of NaCl is one mole or 58.4 grams. One milliequivalent
is therefore 1/1000 equivalent or 58.4 mg. A sodium level of 129
mEq/L is 129*58.4 = 7534 mg or 7.53 g/L. Since 1 liter weighs 1000 g
(more or less), that sodium level is about 0.753%.

Which may be slightly low but not much, because 0.9% NaCl in isotonic
IV fluid corresponds to the TOTAL concentration of all soluble species
in the bloodstream. The 0.75% sodium chloride in the blood is
supplemented by glucose, potassium ion, phosphates, and all sorts of
other gunk.

Sorry about that; ya pushed my chemistry button and I had to
respond... :-)

Best -- Terry