Simple and rapid determination of enflurane in human tissues using gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

A simple, rapid and reliable method was devised to determine the levels of enflurane in human tissues, using gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. 1,4-Dioxane was used as an internal standard (I.S.). Enflurane and the I.S. were extracted from 0.25 g of body tissues using an automatic headspace sampler and 1 ml of headspace gas was injected into the gas chromatograph. Enflurane was analyzed qualitatively by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and quantitatively by gas chromatography with a flame-ionization detector. The calibration curves in all tissues examined were linear in the concentration range 1-100 microg/0.25 g. The lower limit of detection was 200-300 ng/0.25 g. The accuracy and precision of this method were evaluated at two different concentrations, 1 and 20 microg/0.25 g. The coefficient of variation ranged from 3.4-13.4%. We used this method to determine the presence of enflurane in tissues from an autopsied individual who died suddenly during extirpation of a malignant tumor.