Table 4.

Suggested dialysate bicarbonate concentration according to pre-dialysis TCO₂

Pre-dialysis TCO2 (mEq/L)a	Suggested dialysate bicarbonate concentration (mEq/L)b	Expected pre-dialysis TCO2 after the adjustment (mEq/L)a
20	39	24.12
21	38	24.09
22	37	24.06
23	36	24.03
24	35	24.00
25	34	23.96
26	33	23.93
27c	32c	23.90c
28	31	23.86
29	30	23.83
30	29	23.80

^aBicarbonate (mEq/L)  = TCO₂ (mEq/L) – 1.

^bSuggested bicarbonate concentration reduction is made based on a desirable pre-dialysis TCO₂ between 19 and 25 mEq/L (arbitrary target ∽24 mEq/L) and supposing that pre-dialysis TCO₂ (before the dialysate optimization) has been obtained with a dialysate bicarbonate concentration of 35 mEq/L.

^cValues obtained from the present study. The other measures are extrapolated from the equation TCO₂ad = 1.03 · (dyHCO₃ – 35)  + TCO₂ba, where TCO₂ad is TCO₂ after adjustment, dyHCO₃ is target dialysate bicarbonate and TCO₂ba is TCO₂ before adjustment.