Lactate is a product of anaerobic metabolism. Lactate concentration in blood is used clinically as an indicator of tissue hypoperfusion and hypoxia to determine disease severity, assess response to therapy, and predict outcome. This article reviews lactate physiology, sample collection and processing, and interpretation of lactate concentration in clinical practice.
Keywords: Hypoperfusion; Hypoxia; Lactate; Lactic acidosis; Metabolic acidosis; d-Lactate; l-Lactate.
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