Editor’s Note: Just a brief primer on Malignant Hyperthermia, should the need ever arise to place a patient on CPB who has been diagnosed with this condition. It is an unusual co-morbidity and should be approached and treated with an abundance of clinical respect and caution. Any insight or recommendations from readers would be greatly […]
Editor’s Note: Just a brief primer on Malignant Hyperthermia, should the need ever arise to place a patient on CPB who has been diagnosed with this condition. It is an unusual co-morbidity and should be approached and treated with an abundance of clinical respect and caution. Any insight or recommendations from readers would be greatly […]
I. PATHOPHYSIOLOGY: Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is a pharmacogenetic disorder characterized by a fulminant hypermetabolic reaction of skeletal muscle induced by volatile inhalational anesthetics, succinylcholine, and possibly stress and exercise. Until the advent of dantrolene, the mortality rate was 65% but since the introduction of dantrolene in 1979, it has decreased to between 1 and 10%. […]