Internal medicine
-
We encountered a case of malignant hyperthermia caused by intravenous lidocaine which had been administered as treatment for a ventricular arrhythmia. The patient, a 72-year-old male, was admitted with chronic renal failure and aortic valvular stenosis. His chronic renal failure progressed, and congestive heart failure developed, and ventricular arrhythmias occurred frequently. ⋯ This abnormally high fever was relieved only by dantrolene sodium. After we made a diagnosis of malignant hyperthermia and stopped the lidocaine infusion, the high fever resolved quickly. It is important to note that malignant hyperthermia can be caused by lidocaine and amide-linked local anesthetics.