[General anesthesia for patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy].

General anesthesia was given to six surgical patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy on eight occasions from 1990 to 1992. Anesthetic courses were uneventful in five patients diagnosed previously as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. However, a patient without a diagnosis of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy had intractable cardiac arrest. A slight hypotension caused by epidural anesthesia had a devastating effect on the patient. The above experiences stress the importance of early diagnosis and careful observation in perioperative period.