Davenport diagram

In acid base physiology, the Davenport Diagram is a graphical tool, developed by Horace W. Davenport, that allows a clinician or investigator to describe blood bicarbonate concentrations and blood pH following a respiratory and/or metabolic acid-base disturbance. The diagram depicts a three-dimensional surface describing all possible states of chemical equilibria between gaseous carbon dioxide, aqueous bicarbonate and aqueous protons at the physiologically complex interface of the alveoli of the lungs and the alveolar capillaries. Although the surface represented in the diagram is experimentally determined, the Davenport Diagram is primarily a conceptual tool, allowing the investigator to envision the effects of physiological changes on blood acid-base chemistry. The Davenport Diagram is rarely used in the clinical setting.

When a sample of blood is exposed to air, either in the alveoli of the lung or in an in vitro laboratory experiment, carbon dioxide in the air rapidly enters into equilibrium with carbon dioxide derivatives and other species in the aqueous solution. Figure 1 illustrates the most important equilibrium reactions of carbon dioxide in blood relating to acid-base physiology:

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