[Postoperative hyperthermic syndrome with a questionable relationship to malignant hyperthermia and the need for...

Following anaesthesia with halothane and succinylcholine, a 56-year-old patient relapsed into unconsciousness which was accompanied by an increase of body temperature to 42 degrees C and further symptoms indicative of malignant hyperpyrexia (MH). Although a diagnosis of MH could not be established, during subsequent anaesthesia, the patient was treated as an individual susceptible to MH. The problems of this policy and the need to elucidate the susceptibility to MH are discussed with reference to this case.