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April 1997
Volume 61 |
Number 4
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| Malignant Hyperthermia
1997: Looking to the Future |
Dallas D. Pennington
While at the 1996 World Congress of Anaesthesiology, I witnessed
an event that spoke so eloquently of why the Malignant
Hyperthermia Association of the United States (MHAUS) has
been so valuable to MH-susceptible patients and the professionals
who are responsible for the safe administration of anesthetics.
A young anesthesiologist from the Philippines stood up in a meeting
where malignant hyperthermia was being discussed and said, "Outside
of the major medical centers in the Philippines, malignant hyperthermia
is nearly 100 percent fatal." Needless to say, these events
are devastating to all concerned. Not too many years ago, a high
fatality rate from MH was true in the United States.
The development of dantrolene, the alertness of the anesthesia
community and educational programs of MHAUS and ASA have brought
the percentage of MH deaths to well below 10 percent of all reported
MH episodes in 1996. This result is, in part, due to 15 years
of efforts by MHAUS:
- to advise and help prepare medical facilities for prompt diagnosis
and immediate treatment of MH episodes;
- to help educate the entire spectrum of medical professionals
about MH and its treatment;
- to counsel MH-susceptible patients and their families;
- to reach out to the public at-large in order to help identify
individuals at risk prior to their need for surgery; and
- to encourage research into the causes of MH and the development
of a simple, reliable diagnostic test.
The death rate from MH in this country may be very low; however,
this does not mean that the work of MHAUS is no longer needed.
MH events and deaths still occur. Morbidity and mortality also
occur from disorders resembling MH and which, indeed, may be causes
related to MH. The MH-susceptible patients and anesthesia professionals
continue to benefit greatly from the activities of MHAUS: mainly
from the 24-hour MH expert hotline that fields more than 1,000
calls per year, from the North American MH Registry, which has
cataloged more than 1,000 cases of MH in a database and monitors
the activities of the U.S. MH biopsy centers; from the medical
advisory council of renowned professionals who guide the content
and quality of the programs and presentations of MHAUS; and from
MHAUS' operating room in-service programs, fax-on-demand service,
World Wide Web site and a variety of professional and patient
educational materials.
MHAUS assists patients in understanding the implications of MH
and aids the anesthesiologist in counseling patients and their
families who are diagnosed with this disorder.
The volunteer board of MHAUS is looking forward to the future
with renewed efforts to develop new research programs, improve
worldwide communications regarding the latest developments in
clinical management and diagnosis of MH, develop more efficient
and effective patient and public information programs, and spearhead
a concerted, focused effort to unlock the genetic secrets of MH.
These efforts will be successful with the help of the many dedicated
anesthesia professionals, concerned patients, supporters from
industry, private and public associations and the entire staff
and volunteers who have supported and continue to support MHAUS.
Dallas D. Pennington is the President of
the Board of Directors of the Malignant Hyperthermia Association
of the United States, Sherburne, New York. He is also the owner
of Penn Com, a communications company in Sacramento, New York.
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