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Malignant hyperthermia - Overview

Alternative Names

Hyperthermia - malignant; Hyperpyrexia - malignant

Definition of Malignant hyperthermia:

Malignant hyperthermia is an inherited disease that causes a rapid rise in body temperature (fever) and severe muscle contractions when the affected person receives general anesthesia.

This condition is not the same as hyperthermia due to medical emergencies such as heat stroke.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

Malignant hyperthermia is an autosomal dominant trait, meaning it requires only one parent carrying the disease for a child to inherit the condition. It may be associated with muscular diseases such as multiminicore myopathy and central core disease.

One form of malignant hyperthermia is caused by a defect in the ryanodine receptor (RYR1) gene

Reviewed last on: 7/23/2008
A.D.A.M. Editorial Team: David Zieve, MD, MHA, Greg Juhn, MTPW, David R. Eltz. Previously reviewed by Chad Haldeman-Englert, MD, Division of Human Genetics, Children's Hospitalof Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA. Review provided by VeriMed HealthcareNetwork (7/25/2007).

References

Vicario S. Heat illness. In: Marx J, ed. Rosen’s Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 6th ed. St. Louis, Mo: Mosby; 2006:chap 139.

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