[Oxidative phosphorylation in the myocardium of patients with mitral valve stenosis during surgery].

In 135 patients with mitral stenosis of the III and IV stages oxidative phosphorylation in the mitochondria of the left cardiac auricle was studied by the polarographic method. A uniform lowering of the mitochondrial respiration at different metabolic states with IV stage of the affection and in patiens of a more advanced age (36-52 years) was demonstrable. In some instances the conjugation of oxidation and phosphorylation was on a decline too. A nitrous oxide anesthesia (by comparison with the ether-oxygen one) produced a substantial depression of the mitochondrial respiration, especially when alpha-ketoglutarate was used. The sensitivity to the inhibitory effect of nitrous oxide in the elderly was higher. Respiration with succinate as a substrate in the young (20-35 years) patients proved little sensitive to the suppressing action of this type of anesthesia.