Sotos syndrome is a rare genetic disorder presenting with craniofacial abnormalities, profound hypotonia, and cardiac abnormalities, giving rise to several potential challenges and concerns for an anesthesiologist. When preparing for a Sotos syndrome patient&#x2019;s case, we consulted the literature for precedents on how to plan the anesthetic, to which we were only able to find a few reports and nothing in the age group our patient fell within. We present our case of an adult in addition to examining the previous cases so as to document a precedent when encountering patients with this syndrome in the operating room. We describe a unique case of a nonverbal adult with hypotonia and severe craniofacial abnormalities who successfully underwent multiple dental extractions under general anesthesia, with no complications other than a delay of emergence attenuated by naloxone. Our case and the seven previous documented cases over the past several decades demonstrate anesthesia, including paralytics and intubation itself safe despite obvious concerns given the common features of the syndrome for both pediatric patients and the one adult we described in this report.

Andrew Winegarner

Mark C. Kendall

Harish Lecamwasam

Successful Anesthetic Management of an Adult with Sotos Syndrome

Transverse myelitis is an acute inflammation of the spinal cord. Its annual incidence is 1&#x2013;8 per million. Beh&#xe7;et disease is also a rare autoimmune disease. Transverse myelitis can be a manifestation of neuro-Beh&#xe7;et&#x2019;s disease. For those two rare diseases to present in one patient sets a challenge in anesthetic management. Up to our knowledge, our approach to managing these cases has not been reported in the literature. We present the case of a 37-year-old female patient in her 34th week of pregnancy, showing manifestations of neuro-Beh&#xe7;et&#x2019;s disease and recurrent transverse myelitis. She presented to the preanesthesia clinic on a wheelchair with worsening of baseline right lower limb weakness. The patient elected for neuroaxial anesthesia, and the procedure was conducted without complications. The patient was followed up for 6&#x2009;months. The neuroaxial approach was successful. Patients with neuro-Beh&#xe7;et&#x2019;s disease and transverse myelitis can be safely managed with epidural anesthesia.

Sara Alwatban

Etedal AlAamri

Abdullah Alraffa

Mona Alkhawajah

Anesthetic Management of an Obstetric Patient with Beh&#xe7;et&#x2019;s Disease Complicated by Transverse Myelitis

Left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion device implantation is becoming a more common alternative for stroke prophylaxis in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF) who are not able to tolerate long-term anticoagulation. Studies suggest the procedure has a 98.5&#x0025; successful deployment rate (Boersma et al., 2016). We present a case where a rare but known complication involving dislodgement and migration of an implanted Watchman LAA occlusion device led to functional stenosis of the aortic valve creating a left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction necessitating emergency cardiopulmonary bypass in the electrophysiology lab to safely retrieve the device.

Alex Roberts

Steven Mach

Jason Goebel

Heather Palomino

Derek Horstemeyer

Watchman Device Dislodgement Creating a Left Ventricular Outflow Tract Obstruction Requiring Emergency Cardiopulmonary Bypass

Perioperative management of patients with mediastinal masses still poses a challenge for the anesthesiologist, as the use of general anesthesia can be associated with acute perioperative cardiorespiratory impairment resulting from the mass collapsing on the airway or vascular structures. Dexmedetomidine can be used for procedural sedation due to its reversible sedative and anxiolytic properties with dose-dependent effects, while not interfering with ventilatory drive. These features are of particular interest for the perioperative management of patients with large anterior mediastinal masses. In this case, we report our anesthetic management of a 22-year-old male scheduled for anterior mediastinotomy, with a large anterior mediastinal mass, with 50&#x0025; distal tracheal compression and marked collapse of the superior vena cava and brachiocephalic trunk. In the operation theatre, an infusion of dexmedetomidine was titrated to adequate anesthetic depth while keeping the patient under spontaneous ventilation with oxygen (O2) supplementation and local anesthetic infiltration of the surgical site. Mediastinotomy lasted for about 30 minutes, during which the patient maintained appropriate ventilation and hemodynamic stability. No adverse events occurred perioperatively. Diagnostic procedures such as mediastinotomy for tissue biopsy are necessary to achieve a histological diagnosis. High-risk patients may present with severe postural symptoms, stridor, cyanosis, and radiological evidence of more than 50&#x0025; airway obstruction, tracheal compression with bronchial compression, pericardial effusion, or superior vena cava syndrome. Relaxation of bronchial smooth muscles under general anesthesia increases the risk of airway obstruction. In this case, with the use of dexmedetomidine combined with local anesthetic infiltration, spontaneous ventilation and muscle tone were preserved, decreasing the probability of intraoperative complications. It is our opinion that dexmedetomidine combined with local anesthetic infiltration can be a safe option for procedural sedation in patients presenting with high-risk anterior mediastinal masses for mediastinotomy.

Miguel Pratas

Jorge Aires

Nuno Pereira da Silva

Tiago Oliveira

Cristov&#xe3;o Pinto

Jiele Li

Ana Filipa Ribeiro

Procedural Sedation with Dexmedetomidine for Anterior Mediastinotomy in a High-Risk Patient

Lupus anticoagulant (LA), an antiphospholipid antibody, prolongs in vitro activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) despite the presence of a hypercoagulable state in vivo. Irrespective of whether they receive antithrombotic therapy, meticulous anesthetic management is imperative in patients with LA positivity to prevent thrombotic complication. Additionally, emergency surgery in such patients can be challenging, as the time to devise perioperative strategies is limited. Here, we described the case of a patient with LA positivity and prolonged APTT who underwent emergency laparoscopic cholecystectomy with successful anesthetic management using epidural analgesia. An 83-year-old woman presented with acute cholecystitis and underwent emergency laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Preoperative blood test results revealed a prolonged APTT of 83&#x2009;s, prothrombin time/international normalized ratio of 1.14, and normal platelet count. The patient had experienced a marked prolongation of APTT ten years previously, which was attributed to LA positivity, and she had previously undergone surgery for rectal cancer under general and epidural anesthesia. The patient did not receive antithrombotic therapy, and she demonstrated neither liver dysfunction nor a bleeding tendency. We prioritized optimal analgesia to enable early mobilization; therefore, an epidural catheter was placed in preparation for transition to open abdominal surgery. The operation was completed under laparoscopy, and good pain control was achieved postoperatively with continuous epidural analgesia, facilitating early ambulation. The epidural catheter was removed on the second postoperative day, and the patient did not develop any signs of thromboembolism or neurologic complications during her hospital stay. Anesthetic management for emergency laparoscopic cholecystectomy was successfully performed using epidural analgesia in a patient with LA positivity and prolonged APTT. Careful evaluation of laboratory data, treatment history, and clinical symptoms is of critical importance in such patients.

Yasuhiro Watanabe

Toru Kaneda

Anesthetic Management Using Epidural Analgesia for Emergency Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy in a Patient with Lupus Anticoagulant Positivity and Prolonged Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time

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Case Reports in Anesthesiology publishes case reports and case series related to anesthetic administration and efficacy, preoperative and postoperative considerations, perioperative care, critical care etc.

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Case Reports in Anesthesiology - Table of contents 2022

title

Case Reports in Anesthesiology publishes case reports and case series related to anesthetic administration and efficacy, preoperative and postoperative considerations, perioperative care, critical care etc.

Case Reports in Anesthesiology