Year: 1981
Type: article
Abstract: injury to the liver follows repeated halothane anaesthesia with a frequency as high as 20-400o of patients.The latter would be in keeping with repeated and cumulative direct hepatic damage alone or in combination with hapten formation from free radicals as a basis for hypersensitivity response.In both mech- anisms reductive metabolism of halothane probably plays a central role.We must now ask: What are the keys that predispose a very small number of individuals to develop severe liver injury ?Our recent studies point to pharmacogenetics as one of the keys.Thus "halothane hepatitis" may now more appro- priately be regarded as having a multifactorial aetiology as proposed in 19792 and recently discussed in editorials on both sides of the Atlantic.67This is in contrast to a prevailing tendency for investigators to seek "the cause," with a sharp division between the proponents of "direct toxicity" and the advocates of "hypersensitivity" (allergy).6
Source: BMJ
Author: R. Clubb
Institution: Flinders University
Language: English
Subfield: Pharmacology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2082444523