Malignant Hyperpyrexia Induced by Nitrous Oxide and Treated with Dexamethasone

Abstract

Though fever has been recognized as a complication of anaesthesia for over 80 years the specific condition of malignant hyperpyrexia has only comparatively recently been described. It is known that susceptible patients, who have been found to have a subclinical myopathy (Harriman et al., 1973), develop a fulminating and often fatal hyperpyrexia when given certain anaesthetic drugs or depolarizing muscle relaxants (Britt and Kalow, 1970). A working definition of malignant hyperpyrexia is an unexplained fever during anaesthesia in which the body temperature rises at a rate of at least 2°C an hour (Keaney and Ellis, 1971). Most patients develop muscle contracture, acidosis, and hyperkalaemia. The condition is inherited as a Mendelian autosomal dominant. © 1974, British Medical Journal Publishing Group. All rights reserved.