Simple assay of plasma sevoflurane and its metabolite hexafluoroisopropanol by headspace GC-MS.

The anesthetic sevoflurane can now be delivered over periods of up to 48h using a newly developed medical system, the AnaConDa (anesthetic conserving device). Lack of pharmacokinetic data on sevoflurane and its main metabolite (hexafluoroisopropanol, HFIP) in this indication prompted us to develop a headspace GC-MS method to quantify the two substances. The only previously published method for assaying the two substances could not be adapted to our study since it uses expensive and rarely employed system components together with toxic carbon disulfide as a dilution solvent.