Cerebral lactate detected by regional proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in a patient with cerebral infarction.

Water-suppressed image-guided localized proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy was performed in a 59-year-old woman with two major brain infarcts. Spectra were measured in the infarcts, in an area between the infarcts, and in the healthy hemisphere. The volumes of interest were selected on the basis of a fast T2-weighted image. A 1331-2662 Hahn spin-echo sequence was used to suppress the water in the 8-cm3 volume that was selected by means of spatially resolved spectroscopy or stimulated echoes. The spectra were obtained in 5 minutes' accumulation time. Spectral editing was applied to separate the resonance of lactate from that of other substances. Our results show no increase of lactate concentration within the infarcts after 6 months; however, a resonance was observed at 1.6 ppm, which is assigned to fatty acids. Peak intensities of brain-specific compounds were decreased. Six months after the onset of clinical symptoms (at the time of bypass surgery), a fivefold increase in lactate concentration compared with normal values was observed in the area between the two infarcts. Four months after bypass surgery, the lactate concentration in this area had decreased to only twice normal. We speculate that lactate is a marker of reversible or impending brain damage.