Malignant hyperthermia – Update of diagnostics

SummaryMalignant hyperthermia (MH) is an autosomal dominant skeletal muscle disorder, associated with life threatening skeletal muscle hypermetabolism upon exposure to triggering agents, i.e. volatile anesthetics or succinylcholine. While mortality of a MH reaction used to be high, both preventive diagnostic measures and standardized treatment protocols, have led to a sharp decline of fatal MH events.Here, several established diagnostic measures are discussed, such as the clinical grading score, in-vitro caffeine/halothane contracture testing as well as genetic testing. Further, new tools like the MHApp are presented, which could prove helpful in the event of a suspected MH crisis for both the diagnostic process and the subsequent clinical action plan.