Typical and atypical presentation of malignant hyperpyrexia in nonwhite patients

Two cases are presented of malignant hyperthermia in black patients. One patient developed signs of malignant hyperthermia during general anesthesia that was successfully treated with dantrolene sodium and cooling. A second patient was retrospectively diagnosed as having an atypical variant of malignant hyperthermia secondary to heat stroke and general anesthesia; this patient subsequently died. These cases illustrate that malignant hyperthermia can occur in blacks despite the very low incidence of this syndrome in nonwhite patients.