Hi Guys,
Has anyone tried to simulate Malignant Hyperthermia (MH) using Pulse Engine ? The typical case would be something like Laryngospasm (modelled as airway obstruction) is resolved and once succynlychloline is administered or sevoflurane, Malignant Hyperthermia starts. Technically MH is a congential defect, wherein upon inhalation of an anesthetic such as sevoflurane or halothane, etc, the patient’s RyR1 receptors release uncontrolled calcium into the system, triggering metabolic symptoms such as rapid ETCO2 rise and temperature rise. I tried using SEExercise and while that works in terms of ETCO2 rise, the temperature doesn’t rise fast enough. My idea of modelling this was to mimic the metabolic symptoms rather than model the event itself. If anyone has tried anything could you let me know?
Thanks and Regards,
Varun
Hello Varun,
Thanks for reaching out. No, I am not aware of anyone using Pulse in this way. We model hypothermia due to submersion in cold water, for example, but I do not believe we have model hyperthermia examples.
What you are describing makes sense from a modeling perspective. However, Pulse does not model calcium to the level required at this time. There is currently no mechanism to release calcium, although you could add a calcium production term in the Energy system. However, we do not model the effect that the excess calcium will have on the body, such as the uptick in metabolism. You could also increase the metabolic rate due to calcium level in the Energy system to address this.
You would need to make some modifications in the Energy.cpp file to do this. If you need some pointers to specific places in the code, let us know and we can point you in the right direction.
Thanks,
Rachel