Muscle & nerve
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We present the results of subcutaneous microdialysis, a new minimally invasive biochemical monitoring technique, in mitochondrial cytopathy. We studied 6 ambulatory patients with mitochondrial cytopathy and 6 controls without mitochondrial disease using a subcutaneous probe for continuous microdialysis, and obtained measurements of lactate, pyruvate, and glucose from samples gathered at 30-60 min intervals during the day and at 3-h intervals at night. The lactate:pyruvate ratio (LPR) was calculated and related to disease severity and metabolic stress. ⋯ Increases in the LPR coincided with metabolic stress in individual cases. We conclude that subcutaneous microdialysis is well tolerated and enables continuous metabolic monitoring of patients with mitochondrial cytopathy. It has particular potential for use in the identification of metabolic risk factors and may help to assess the impact of therapeutic regimens.