[Changes in cerebrospinal fluid lactate and pyruvate levels during brain surgery under fluotane anesthesia]

The lactate and pyruvate content in the arterial blood and CSF of 24 patients operated on the brain under fluothane anesthesia with artificial ventilation of the lungs was measured. Towards the end of the operation and anesthesia a sizably elevated lactate level and accumulation of its excess in the blood were noted, these shifts having been more marked with hypocapnic ventilation of the lungs. An increased concentration of lactate and pyruvate in the cerebrospinal fluid was not attended by accumulation of lactate excess.