HYPERPYREXIA following anaesthesia, and associated with an abnormal reaction to succinylcholine (Anectine| though rare, has been the subject of a number of reports recently. 1-4 The following case is reported to alert anaesthetists to a possible familial tendency to hyperthermia, and the simultaneous occurrence of an alteration in the coagulating mechanisms of the blood. A married woman of French-Canadian descent, aged 44, was anaesthetized on December 14, 1966, for excision biopsy of a mass in the left breast, followed by radical mastectomy. Preoperatively, her history, physical examination and laboratory tests (see Table I) indicated normal health. Prior to the induction of anaes-TABLE I ELECTROLYTE CHANGES IN A CASE OF HYPERTHERMIA

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