LCS level of lactate and clinical status correlate well during the initial stage of encephalomalacia (2nd-4th day) and during a period of 12 to 14 days after infarction LCS level of lactate may, therefore, be regarded as important parameter for short-term prognosis of encephalomalcia. The use of a semiquantitative clinical score also permits predictions as to the extent of remission to be expected. The reliability of this model of prognosis is limited by the comparatively small number of patients so far examined, the assumption of a linear relation between clinical alterations and changes in LCS lactate, as well as by the difficulty of determining LCS lactate in most severe cases at the specific time requested by the examination programme.