Korean J Anesthesiol.  1998 Sep;35(3):579-582. 10.4097/kjae.1998.35.3.579.

A Case of Cardiac Arrest due to Drug Interaction between Halothane and Aminophylline: A case report

• Kweon YS
• Jung SJ
• Lee JR
• Han YJ

• KMID: 2240151
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4097/kjae.1998.35.3.579

Abstract

Although halothane is generally anesthetic of choice for asthmatics due to its bronchodilatory action, its combined use with aminophylline should be discouraged. This report is a 43-year-old male who had primary closure and open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) for facial avulsion injury and zygomatic tripod fracture under N2O-O2-halothane anesthesia. About 90 minutes after the procedure, the patient who had aminophylline infusion for an acute bronchospasm developed a sudden cardiac arrest. The immediate cardiopulmonary resuscitation was applied and the patient was recovered without any neurological deficit. At the time, the serum theophylline concentration of the patient was 16 microgram/ml which was in the range of normal therapeutic dose. The cause for this cardiac arrest by halothane is unknown, but possibly a drug interaction between halothane and aminophylline might have contributed, since halothane sensitizes the heart to exogenous catecholamines.

Keyword

Anesthetics, volatile: halothane; Complications: cardiac arrest; Pharmacology: aminophylline

MeSH Terms

Adult
Aminophylline*
Anesthesia
Bronchial Spasm
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
Catecholamines
Death, Sudden, Cardiac
Drug Interactions*
Halothane*
Heart
Heart Arrest*
Humans
Male
Theophylline
Aminophylline
Catecholamines
Halothane
Theophylline