Malignant hyperthermia in a 3-month-old infant: a case report.

First described in 1960, malignant hyperthermia (MH) is a relatively rare disorder of muscle metabolism triggered by specific anesthetic agents and presenting as a rapidly evolving intraoperative crisis. The syndrome is more prevalent among children (1/15,000 exposures to anesthesia) than adults (1/50,000 exposures), but has not been thought to occur in children younger than 1 year of age. This is a case report of a 3-month-old, 4.85 kg white male infant who developed MH while undergoing repair of a right inguinal hernia. The case is unique not only with respect to the age of the patient but also with the extremely elevated creatine phosphokinase (CPK) 13 hours postoperatively.