Fig. 1

Time course of estimated cumulative MES and MEC for the first four ICU days. Values are depicted as mean ± SE. The first values reflect levels at ICU admission, when storage was assumed defined as zero. The values at the subsequent time points reflect levels at the end (i.e., midnight) of each ICU day. As can be seen under normal and stable circulating electrolyte levels (Table 2), a significant amount of sodium (MES) and chloride (MEC) ‘disappears’ from the balances over the first four ICU days