This exercise is designed to familiarize you with cases that will be presented in VCSN636. As you work through each case, consider the following:

• therapeutic/supportive actions you may take
• the benefit, mode of action, and risk of each of your interventions
• differential diagnoses
• further diagnostics that you could safely perform
• drug choice and dose

At the end of each cardiac case you will be asked to specify your differential diagnosis, further diagnostics, and drug choice. Directions will be provided on how to print a case worksheet to include these items so that you may bring them to class for comparison to the clinician's diagnosis. As you work through the acid-base cases, you will use pH-bicarbonate graphs to determine the patient's base excess or deficit.