Causes of high anion gap metabolic acidosis

The main causes of high anion gap metabolic acidosis are:

• Lactic acidosis
• Renal failure
• Ketoacidosis (alcoholic / starvation / diabetes)
• Toxin induced (ethylene glycol / methanol / salicylates)

Anion gap is the difference between measured cations and the measured anions – represents the quantity of unmeasured anions in the plasma.