Prevalence of malignant hyperthermia in New York ASCs

Editor's Note

The prevalence of malignant hyperthermia (MH) in ambulatory surgery center (ASC) patients in New York state is approximately 1 per 500,000 and varies with surgical procedures, this study finds.

Analyzing New York State Ambulatory Surgery Dataset data from 2002 to 2011, researchers found 31 of nearly 18 million ASC patients had a diagnosis of MH. The prevalence differed significantly across age groups and procedure categories. All MH patients were discharged alive from the ASCs.

Before this study, research on MH had been mostly limited to inpatients, the authors say.

Home > Current Issue > Prevalence of Malignant Hyperthermia Diagnosis in New York S... doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000001054 Patient Safety: Research Report Lu, Zhen MPH*; Rosenberg, Henry MD †; Brady, Joanne E. PhD*; Li, Guohua MD, DrPH*‡ Abstract BACKGROUND: Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is a rare yet potentially fatal pharmacogenetic disorder triggered by exposure to inhaled anesthetics and the depolarizing neuromuscular blocking drug succinylcholine.