Cardiac arrest associated with halothane anesthesia in a patient receiving theophylline.

Abstract

A case of a 10-year-old asthmatic patient who had cardiac arrest during induction for elective ear surgery is presented. The patient's serum theophylline level was 21.6 micrograms/mL one hour after surgery. It is likely that, since other factors that can contribute to cardiac arrest during the perioperative period were not present, the combined use of aminophylline and halothane was responsible.