Hyperthermia associated with methamphetamine and cocaine use: A case series

Hyperthermia is defined as a core body temperature in excess of 40  °C (104 °F). It is distinguished from a fever, or pyrexia, which is body temperature greater than euthermia 38 °C (100.4 °F), and hyperpyrexia, defined as a core temperature greater than 41.5 °C (106.7 °F), by the lack of an alteration in the hypothalamic homeoregulatory set point from either severe infection or central nervous system hemorrhage [1]. This occurs when excess core energy needed to be dissipated to maintain euthermia exceeds the body's regulatory mechanisms, either through a significant increase in core heat by external warming or internal heat production or th rough an impairment in the body's thermoregulatory mechanisms: radiation, evaporation, conduction, and convection.
Source: The American Journal of Emergency Medicine - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Source Type: research