Base Excess (ECF) - Arterial on Labcorp's Arterial Blood Gas (ABG) Panel
The Base Excess (ECF) - Arterial marker on Labcorp's Arterial Blood Gas (ABG) Panel quantifies the amount of acid or base required to restore a liter of arterial blood to a normal pH of 7.40 at a PaCO2 of 40 mmHg and a temperature of 37C. This value reflects the metabolic component of acid-base balance, independent of respiratory influences.
Clinical Significance
-
Positive Base Excess: Indicates metabolic alkalosis, where there is an excess of base or a deficit of acid in the blood.
-
Negative Base Excess: Suggests metabolic acidosis, characterized by an excess of acid or a loss of base.
Base Excess (ECF) is particularly useful in assessing the severity of metabolic disturbances and guiding therapeutic interventions, such as the administration of bicarbonate in cases of significant acidosis.
Interpretation Considerations
While Base Excess (ECF) provides valuable information about the metabolic component of acid-base status, it should be interpreted alongside other ABG parameters, such as pH, PaCO2, and bicarbonate levels, to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the patient's acid-base balance. Additionally, clinical context and other laboratory findings are essential for accurate diagnosis and management.
All Your Lab Results.
One Simple Dashboard.
Import, Track, and Share Your Lab Results Easily
Import, Track, and Share Your Lab Results
Import lab results from multiple providers, track changes over time, customize your reference ranges, and get clear explanations for each result. Everything is stored securely, exportable in one organized file, and shareable with your doctor—or anyone you choose.
Cancel or upgrade anytime
What does it mean if your Base Excess (ECF) - Arterial result is too low?
Decreased levels of Base Excess (ECF) - Arterial (indicating a negative base excess) are typically associated with metabolic acidosis. This condition occurs when there is an accumulation of acid in the body or a loss of base (bicarbonate), leading to a disruption in the normal acid-base balance. Some common causes of decreased Base Excess include:
-
Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA): In this condition, excessive ketone production due to insulin deficiency leads to the accumulation of acidic substances in the blood, causing a negative base excess.
-
Lactic Acidosis: This results from the buildup of lactic acid in the blood, often due to severe infections (sepsis), shock, or prolonged hypoxia (lack of oxygen), leading to a decrease in bicarbonate levels.
-
Chronic Kidney Disease: The kidneys' impaired ability to excrete acid or retain bicarbonate can lead to metabolic acidosis and a decreased base excess.
-
Diarrhea: Severe or prolonged diarrhea can cause a loss of bicarbonate through the gastrointestinal tract, resulting in metabolic acidosis and negative base excess.
-
Starvation or Malnutrition: Inadequate food intake leads to the breakdown of fat for energy, producing acidic ketones that decrease the base excess.
-
Toxic Ingestion: The ingestion of toxins like methanol, ethylene glycol, or salicylates (aspirin) can result in metabolic acidosis, lowering the base excess.
A decreased Base Excess value is indicative of an acidotic state, and further evaluation is needed to determine the underlying cause, guiding appropriate treatment to correct the acid-base imbalance.
Laboratories
Bring All Your Lab Results Together — In One Place
We accept reports from any lab, so you can easily collect and organize all your health information in one secure spot.
Pricing Table
Gather Your Lab History — and Finally Make Sense of It
Finally, Your Lab Results Organized and Clear
Personal plans
$79/ year
Advanced Plan
Access your lab reports, explanations, and tracking tools.
- Import lab results from any provider
- Track all results with visual tools
- Customize your reference ranges
- Export your full lab history anytime
- Share results securely with anyone
- Receive 5 reports entered for you
- Cancel or upgrade anytime
$250/ once
Unlimited Account
Pay once, access everything—no monthly fees, no limits.
- Import lab results from any provider
- Track all results with visual tools
- Customize your reference ranges
- Export your full lab history anytime
- Share results securely with anyone
- Receive 10 reports entered for you
- No subscriptions. No extra fees.
$45/ month
Pro Monthly
Designed for professionals managing their clients' lab reports
- Import lab results from any provider
- Track lab results for multiple clients
- Customize reference ranges per client
- Export lab histories and reports
- Begin with first report entered by us
- Cancel or upgrade anytime
About membership
What's included in a Healthmatters membership
Import Lab Results from Any Source
See Your Health Timeline
Understand What Your Results Mean
Visualize Your Results
Data Entry Service for Your Reports
Securely Share With Anyone You Trust
Let Your Lab Results Tell the Full Story
Once your results are in one place, see the bigger picture — track trends over time, compare data side by side, export your full history, and share securely with anyone you trust.
Bring all your results together to compare, track progress, export your history, and share securely.
What Healthmatters Members Are Saying
Frequently asked questions
Healthmatters is a personal health dashboard that helps you organize and understand your lab results. It collects and displays your medical test data from any lab in one secure, easy-to-use platform.
- Individuals who want to track and understand their health over time.
- Health professionals, such as doctors, nutritionists, and wellness coaches, need to manage and interpret lab data for their clients.
With a Healthmatters account, you can:
- Upload lab reports from any lab
- View your data in interactive graphs, tables, and timelines
- Track trends and monitor changes over time
- Customize your reference ranges
- Export and share your full lab history
- Access your results anytime, from any device
Professionals can also analyze client data more efficiently and save time managing lab reports.
Healthmatters.io personal account provides in-depth research on 10000+ biomarkers, including information and suggestions for test panels such as, but not limited to:
- The GI Effects® Comprehensive Stool Profile,
- GI-MAP,
- The NutrEval FMV®,
- The ION Profile,
- Amino Acids Profile,
- Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones (DUTCH),
- Organic Acids Test,
- Organix Comprehensive Profile,
- Toxic Metals,
- Complete Blood Count (CBC),
- Metabolic panel,
- Thyroid panel,
- Lipid Panel,
- Urinalysis,
- And many, many more.
You can combine all test reports inside your Healthmatters account and keep them in one place. It gives you an excellent overview of all your health data. Once you retest, you can add new results and compare them.
If you are still determining whether Healthmatters support your lab results, the rule is that if you can test it, you can upload it to Healthmatters.
We implement proven measures to keep your data safe.
At HealthMatters, we're committed to maintaining the security and confidentiality of your personal information. We've put industry-leading security standards in place to help protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of the information under our control. We use procedural, physical, and electronic security methods designed to prevent unauthorized people from getting access to this information. Our internal code of conduct adds additional privacy protection. All data is backed up multiple times a day and encrypted using SSL certificates. See our Privacy Policy for more details.