Background
Hutchinson‐Gilford progeria syndrome is a rare disease in childhood that results in premature aging. The presence of multisystem derangements including skin, bone, and joint diseases and possibly a difficult airway makes the anesthetic management challenging. Because of the extremely low prevalence, experience is limited even for experienced pediatric anesthesiologists.
Objective
To review the available literature on anesthesia for patients with Hutchinson‐Gilford progeria syndrome and to give recommendations for establishing the best practice for patients with Hutchinson‐Gilford progeria syndrome.
Design
A narrative review of the rare existing literature.
Date sources
CENTRAL (Cochrane), EMBASE, Google Scholar, MEDLINE and PubMed.
Eligibility criteria
Articles addressing anesthesia in patients with Hutchinson‐Gilford progeria syndrome were included.
Results
An overview of the current literature was made on anesthesia care for patients with Hutchinson‐Gilford progeria syndrome. After screening the literature, only ten articles were found to be of interest and include some case reports and a correspondence. The focus points on how to perform anesthesia care in patients with Hutchinson‐Gilford progeria syndrome and the entire perioperative care are suggested. The available data are limited and results need to be interpreted with caution.
Conclusion
The patients with Hutchinson‐Gilford progeria syndrome are not just “frail” patients. Awareness concerning intubation difficulties is mandatory, and airway strategies must be addressed in advance. Although these patients present with the physiology of an elderly with accompanying comorbidities, emotionally they are only children and should be approached as such.
We describe a patient who presented with a bilateral pulmonary artery sarcoma, initially treated as pulmonary embolism, that necessitated concomitant pulmonary endarterectomy and pneumonectomy. We reviewed the anesthetic management used for this procedure, which bears many similarities to the management of patients undergoing pulmonary thromboendarterectomy. Right ventricular failure, pulmonary hemorrhage, and cerebral ischemia due to circulatory arrest are life-threatening perioperative complications. The anesthesiologist can play a key role in the prevention (or timely recognition and treatment) of these perioperative complications by establishing adequate hemodynamic, echocardiographic, and neurologic monitoring and by optimizing cardiopulmonary function and coagulation.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.