Is Muscle Energy Production Disturbed in Exertional Heat Stroke

ABSTRACT Background: Exertional heat stroke (EHS) is a life-threatening disease that shares some clinical similarities with malignant hyperthermia (MH). By use of 31Phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), EHS patients with MH susceptibility and MH patients shared common metabolic abnormalities. The aim of this study was to determine whether subjects who suffered from an EHS episode had disturbed muscle energetics. Method: This retrospective study was performed within the French database of military subjects that were explored from 2004 to 2010 after they suffered an EHS. All subjects had both in vitro contracture test to determine their MH susceptibility and 31Phosphorus MRS at 4.7 Tesla to assess muscle energetics by means of MRS score, a composite score corresponding to the sum of metabolic abnormalities recorded during a standardized rest-exercise-recovery protocol. Results: 437 subjects were investigated and 32.5% of them exhibited abnormal MRS score. MRS score did not segregate subjects on ...