S USCEPTIBILITY to malignant hyperthermia (MH) is viewed as a pharmacogenetic trait dependent on exposure to inhalational anesthetics. Outside of the operating room, individuals susceptible to MH are usually asymptomatic. Events that occurred in the absence of anesthetics have been reported over the years and were originally termed awake episodes. In this issue of ANESTHESIOLOGY, two cases of n...

RECRUDESCENCE of a malignant hyperthermia (MH) reaction has previously been reported anecdotally, but in this month’s issue of ANESTHESIOLOGY, Burkman et al. present the first detailed evaluation of its incidence and associated factors. Appreciation of the potential for recrudescence of MH reactions is important for the anesthesiologist managing a suspected case because it informs decisions reg...

General anaesthesia with Althesin was administered on two occasions to a patient who was identified as susceptible to malignant hyperthermia, in whom there was identified familial subclinical myopathy and once in another patient suffering from arthrogryposis multiplex congenita with a history of fever associated with two previous anaesthetics. In the first patient halothane was administered by ...

RECRUDESCENCE of a malignant hyperthermia (MH) reaction has previously been reported anecdotally, but in this month’s issue of ANESTHESIOLOGY, Burkman et al. present the first detailed evaluation of its incidence and associated factors. Appreciation of the potential for recrudescence of MH reactions is important for the anesthesiologist managing a suspected case because it informs decisions reg...

Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is triggered by all inhalative anesthetics as well as depolarizing muscle relaxants in genetically predisposed individuals. Presymptomatic testing is important in this potentially fatal pharmacogenetic disease. In vitro challenging of muscle samples with halothane and caffeine is the basis of contracture testing, which until recently was the only accepted diagnostic ...

Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is a pharmacogenetic disorder of skeletal muscle that presents as a hypermetabolic response to potent volatile anesthetic gases such as halothane, sevoflurane, desflurane, isoflurane and the depolarizing muscle relaxant succinylcholine, and rarely, in humans, to stressors such as vigorous exercise and heat. The incidence of MH reactions ranges from 1:10,000 to 1: 250...