Malignant Hyperthermia – Overview

Transcript

Malignant hyperthermia is a rare but life threatening condition that can occur in connection with the administration of general anesthesia. The exact underlying cause is a malfunction of calcium channels within the skeleton muscle that overwhelms the body’s capacity to supply oxygen, remove carbon dioxide and regulate body temperature due to a receptor mutation. There are certain types of anesthetics that are known to trigger malignant hyperthermia. These triggering agents include all anesthesia gases and the medication [?]. The incidence of malignant hyperthermia is about one in 15,000 in children, and one in 50,000 in adults.