An Acidosis Not So Basic

We present the case of a four-year-old girl, who was hospitalized in intensive care unit for a coma resulting from metabolic acidosis with increased anion gap. The patient was treated for short bowel syndrome, following necrotising enterocolitis, which occurred 51 days after birth. In our initial evaluation of the patient's metabolic acidosis, we were unable to identify the cause of the increased anion gap. Urinary organic acids chromatography identified a large peak of lactate (quantified at 15 mmol/mol of creatiniuria), as well as its metabolites. The discrepancy between normal blood lactate concentration assayed by enzymatic assay, and the large amount of lactate found by gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) in urine highlights the limit of the stereospecificity of enzymatic assays. Indeed, most lactates assay use enzymatic assays that are specific for L-lactate, whereas organic acids chromatography, whose column is mostly achiral, can detect both stereoisomers, D- and L-lactate. Organic acids in urine analysis, in addition to the clinical context, suggested a diagnosis of D-lactic acidosis. Following a review of the physiopathology and treatment of short bowel syndrome, we will discuss the mechanism and diagnosis of the D-lactic acidosis in our patient. This case highlights the need to perform an organic acid profile in urine in the presence of any unexplained increased anion gap to determine its cause.