Reductive metabolism of halothane in children.

The volatile halothane metabolites, 2-chloro-1,1,1,-trifluoroethane and 2-chloro-1,1-difluoroethylene, were identified in the exhaled breath of ten children during halothane anaesthesia. Although there was considerable variation among children in the concentration and time-course of metabolite exhalation, exhaled concentrations of these metabolites were of a similar magnitude to those reported in adults. This result suggests that the lower incidence of halothane hepatitis in children compared with adults is not due to a poor ability to metabolise halothane by the reductive pathway.