Intramuscular injection of malignant hyperthermia trigger agents induces hypermetabolism in susceptible and nonsusceptible individuals

Background and objective A new minimally invasive metabolic test for the diagnosis of susceptibility for malignant hyperthermia measuring intramuscular pco(2) and lactate following local application of caffeine and halothane in humans was recently proposed. The present study tested the hypothesis that a more simplified test protocol allows a differentiation between malignant hyperthermia susceptible (MHS) and malignant hyperthermia nonsusceptible (MHN) and control individuals. Methods With approval of the local ethics committee and informed consent, microdialysis and pco(2) probes with attached microtubing were placed into the lateral vastus muscle of six MHS, seven MHN and seven control individuals. Following equilibration, boluses of 500 mu l caffeine 80 mmol l(-1) and halothane 10 vol% dissolved in soybean oil were injected locally. pco(2) and lactate were measured spectrophotometrically. Results The maximal rate of pco(2) increase was significantly higher in MHS than in MHN and control individuals following application of halothane and caffeine, respectively. Intramuscular caffeine injection leads to a significantly higher increase of local lactate levels in MHS than in MHN and control individuals, whereas halothane increased local lactate levels in all investigated groups. Haemodynamic and systemic metabolic parameters did not differ between the investigated groups. Conclusion Local caffeine and halothane injection increased intramuscular metabolism in MHS individuals significantly more than in the two other groups. In contrast to previous investigations, direct injection of the concentrations of halothane described here increased lactate and pco(2) even in MHN skeletal muscle. Eur J Anaesthesiol 27:77-82 (C) 2010 European Society of Anaesthesiology.