Abstract
Pharmacogenetics deals with hereditary modifications of the response to drugs. Since there are numerous examples concerning anesthesia, emphasis in this review was arbitrary. Recent work on the 5 cholinesterase variants has been surveyed in some detail; effects on metabolism of succinylcholine and of procaine have been compared and consequences of mismanagement discussed. The review includes sections on general anesthetics and hyperthermia, acute intermittent porphyria, the myotonic snydrome, familial dysautonomia, and sickle-cell crisis. Some further conditions have been commented upon in a section on miscellaneous observations.