F. Wappler et al., IN-VITRO DIAGNOSIS OF MALIGNANT HYPERTHERMIA SUSCEPTIBILITY WITH RYANODINE-INDUCED CONTRACTURES IN HUMAN SKELETAL-MUSCLES, Anesthesia and analgesia, 82(6), 1996, pp. 1230-1236
The in vitro contracture test with ryanodine is a new method to distin
guish malignant hyperthermia (MH) susceptible (MHS) from normal (MHN)
patients. The purpose of our investigation was to determine whether sm
aller concentrations of ryanodine than those used previously may resul
t in a better differentiation. We performed a ryanodine contracture te
st (RCT) using concentrations of 1 and 2 mu M in muscle specimens of 4
1 MHS, 58 MHN, and 19 MH-equivocal (MHE) patients. Nine patients were
excluded from the study due to neuromuscular diseases. All contracture
levels (i.e., start of contractures, contractures of 0.2 g and 1.0 g)
were attained significantly earlier in MHS than in MHN muscles at bot
h concentrations of ryanodine. Using a ryanodine concentration of 2 mu
M, all contracture levels were reached significantly faster than with
1 mu M. There was no overlap in the range of times between groups at
all contracture levels with ryanodine 1 and 2 mu M. The median thresho
ld times for all MHE patients were always between those of MHS and MHN
. Defining arbitrarily threshold times for MHS and ME-IN, an assignmen
t of MHE patients to either MHS or MHN using 1 or 2 mu M ryanodine was
possible in most cases. Ryanodine administration at a concentration o
f 1 mu M led to a better distinction of MHS from MHN patients than 2 m
u M, The RCT with ryanodine 1 mu M should therefore be added to the cu
rrent diagnostic methods.