Halothane Anesthesia and Hepatitis in a High-Risk Population

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Abstract
THE halogenated anesthetics that characterize today's practice of anesthesia have in common the fact that they may be associated with severe and potentially fatal, if rare, postoperative hepatic failure.1 Halogenated anesthetics also have in common the fact that they are metabolized by hepatic microsomal enzymes.2 It has been suggested that these two phenomena are related — that the drug metabolites produced in the liver act either directly on liver cells as hepatotoxins3 , 4 or indirectly to produce a sensitization type of reaction.5 The amount of halogenated anesthetic that is metabolized is increased when induction of hepatic microsomal enzymes occurs. Induction may . . .

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