Pharmacologic effects on thermoregulation: mechanisms of drug-related heatstroke.

In summary, a number of pharmacologic agents interfere with the body's ability to maintain normal body temperature during exercise or under conditions of environmental heat stress. Life threatening elevation of body temperature may occur. Regardless of the predisposing cause of heatstroke, the final common pathway is heat injury to tissues causing cell death. Rapid cooling of the patient must take precedence and elucidation of the pathophysiologic disturbance is secondary to the accomplishment of this goal.