eNewsletter No. 6 April 2007

Headlines

Another MH Death
As much progress as we have made, you can never be too prepared, as this unfortunate example shows.

MHAUS Efforts Result in Warning
See about a significant warning on inhalation anesthetics.

MHAUS Mini-Conference to Educate Patients, Health Care Providers
"Malignant Hyperthermia - Are You Prepared?" is the theme for this year's patient mini-conference.  Get the details here!

The Latest from the MHAUS and NMSIS Speakers Bureaus
MHAUS continues its new tradition, the Patient Mini-Conference.

The Promotion of Genetic Testing for MH
Now that we have the molecular genetics test, what's next?  How is it being developed and promoted?

New MHAUS Web Site
See about how the European Malignant Hypertheermia Group and MHAUS are separately pursuing new, interesting web site redesigns.

Translating MHAUS's In-Service Kit
MHAUS's In-Service Kit has been a huge success.  Its Spanish translation will mean the number those benefiting will grow even more.

The Latest from the MHAUS and NMSIS Speakers Bureaus
Here are the latest speeches we have scheduled around the country, in our efforts to educate medical professionals about MH and NMS.

Take the Challenge - Test Yourself on the MH Hotline Case of the Month
Find out if you can pass muster!  Challenge yourself on the latest MH Hotline Case of the Month.


Stories

Another MH Death

This issue of our E-newsletter leads with some sad news and shows that, while we have made immense strides in MHAUS's 25 years of existence, we still have a long way to go before we eliminate MH deaths once and for all.

According to the Assistant Chief Medical Examiner of Los Angeles County, California, an MH death occurred in that county in February 28th, 2007.  The victim was a 21 year old woman who went in for elective breast augmentation at an Ambulatory Surgery Center.  The patient was receiving isoflurane anesthesia and forty minutes into the procedure developed a temperature of 104 degrees (not sure where the temperature was monitored). She did receive 1.5mg/kg of dantrolene and was sent to the ED of Cedar's Sinai. However she never awakened, developed liver failure, brain edema and kidney failure and disseminated intravascular coagulation. There was no apparent history of MH in the family.

MHAUS continues to gather more information about this case, in order to learn from the tragedy.

"The moral is that MH can occur wherever anesthesia is given and one has to be prepared," says Henry Rosenberg, MD, President of MHAUS.


MHAUS Efforts Result in Warning

MHAUS has been instrumental in a significant change in package insert warnings on all inhalation anesthetics.  Thanks to two years of effort by MHAUS, the FDA is now requiring all inhalation anesthetics to have a warning describing the risk of occurrence of dangerously high potassium levels in patients with an undiagnosed myopathy, such as Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.  Case reports from the MH Hotline have helped document that the problem could occur.  The change in the warning labels has been made in the US, the UK and Europe.  Read more about this in the latest addition of MHAUS's in-house newsletter The Communicator.


MHAUS Mini-Conference to Educate Patients, Health Care Providers

MHAUS announces its next patient mini-conference to educate patients and health care professionals about the disorder.  The theme for this year is "Malignant Hyperthermia - Are You Prepared?"

Last year's conference in Westminster, Maryland was a huge success and this year the education continues.  This year's conference is Saturday September 8th from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm at St. Mary's Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin.  Among the speakers for this year are Cynthia Wong, MD and John Skoog, MD.

The cost is $25.00 per person, and CMEs and CEUs will be offered.  For more information, please contact Fay Kellogg at fay@mhaus.org.


The Promotion of Genetic Testing for MH

The molecular genetic (blood) test for MH is still new, and lacks the accuracy of the tried and true muscle biopsy test.  So what is MH doing to further the development and accuracy of the genetic test?  Plenty, says Henry Rosenberg, MD, President of MHAUS.  In the latest edition of The Communicator, Dr. Rosenberg describes several MHAUS-backed activities.

MHAUS has sponsored meetings of scientists to discuss the best way to proceed.  Also, along with the MHAUS Board authorizing a grant to Drs. Sheila Muldoon,  Khishge Sambuughin and Barbara Brandom for the in-depth study of DNA changes in 100 MH-susceptible patients, MHAUS has provided seed money to clinical laboratories to begin testing patients for known genetic changes related to MH.  MHAUS is also helping those who are advised to take the genetic test, but don't have the financial means.

"Progress in this area is not as rapid as we would like, but nevertheless progress is being made," emphasizes Dr. Rosenberg.  "I believe we will see rapid advances in the genetic diagnosis of MH in the next 24 months."


New MHAUS Web Site

MHAUS is planning to launch its newly-redesigned web site on July 1st.  But first things first.  The beta version will be tested in June to get the kinks out.  As MHAUS Executive Director Dianne Daugherty says, "We want to make sure it works perfectly and is easier to search to find the MH information our visitors need!"

The look will be cleaner and maneuverability improved to enhance our visitors' overall experience.  Check it out this summer!


Translating MHAUS's In-Service Kit

That isn't the only significant change MHAUS is seeing these days.  The  new, state-of-the-art In-Service Kit will soon be available to the Hispanic community.  Translated into Spanish by Alejandro Recart, MD, this new version is being reproduced with the Spanish voiced over under  the guidance of former MHAUS President Dallas Pennington.

The In-Service Kit is a comprehensive tool to prepare ORs for recognition, response, and treatment of MH.  It includes mock drills and testing.


The Latest from the MHAUS and NMSIS Speakers Bureaus

As you know from our past newsletters, we have been scheduling our speakers all over the country.  Here is a list of those scheduled so far this year for MHAUS and our sister organization, the Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome Information Service (NMSIS):

MHAUS
Duke University, February 28, 2007
University of Mississippi School of Medicine March 28, 2007
New England Assembly of Nurse Anesthetists, April 1, 2007
AANA April, 2007
Union Memorial Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, October, 2007

NMSIS
Cooper University Hospital June 26, 2007
Department of Psychiatry at Elmhurst Hospital/Mt. Sinai, Queens, New York, March 14, 2007

Take the Challenge - Test Yourself on the MH Hotline Case of the Month

Since February of 2005 we have been posting an "MH Case of the Month" at at www.mhaus.org. The featured case is taken from an actual MH Hotline case. It will challenge you, and help make sure your team is up to date with the latest management tools and techniques for recognizing and responding to an MH case.