END-TIDAL CO2 AND PLASMA LACTATE LEVEL - A COMPARISON OF THEIR USE ASPARAMETERS FOR EVALUATING SUCCESSFUL CPR

Serial changes of end-tidal CO2 (ETCO2) and plasma lactate levels duri ng CPR have been described as useful to investigate or evaluate the re sults of CPR. However, there have been no reports comparing these para meters in the same model. By inducing cardiopulmonary arrest (2-7 min) in 28 Wistar rats, ETCO2 and serum lactate levels were studied after and just before CPR, respectively. In the survived group (N = 16), ETC O2 was maintained in high levels (20.1-16.3 mmHg), however in the non- survived group (N = 12), ETCO2 showed an abrupt decline (6.0-2.0 mmHg) . The lactate levels before CPR in two groups were significantly highe r than those of control levels, however there was no significant diffe rence just before the CPR between the two groups. ETCO2 during CPR is a useful indicator for determining the successful application of CPR. However, serum lactate levels sampled just before the onset of CPR did not prove to be a useful indicator of successful CPR in rats.