Malignant fever is a recently-noted, usually fatal complication of anesthesia and surgery. Five cases representing the author' erperience since August, 1966 are described. Serial physiologic changes ocurring during the early phases of the sudden fever are reported for the last two patients. Both patients had received succinylcholine and developed muscular rigidity. Salient findings include metabolic acidosis, hyperkalemia and myoglobinemia. Successful intragasric cooling with a Wangensteen Hypothermia Unit is described. Possible etiologic factors, which may include genetic defects, disturbances of cellular metabolism, and hypothalamic derangement, are discussed.
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Ryan et al. (1970) studied this question.