Abstract
A case history is presented of a three-year-old boy with unsuspected Duchenne muscular dystrophy, who suffered a cardiac arrest following the administration of a single dose of succinylcholine during a halothane anaesthetic. The arrest was associated with lack of fasciculations, muscle rigidity, hyperkalemia, myoglobinuria, and massive elevation of serum creatine phosphokinase. Asystole was prolonged and refractory to treatment, although cardiac activity was eventually restored. The possible cause of the circulatory collapse is discussed and reports of similar cases reviewed. Neither succinylcholine nor halothane should be employed in cases with known or suspected Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Résumé
On rapport I’histoire d’une jeune garçon de trois ans porteur d’une dystrophie de Duchenne qui a fait un arrêt cardiaque après l’administration d’une seule dose de succinylcholine pendant une anesthesie à l’halothane. On nota au moment de l’arrêt une rigidité musculaire et l’absence de fasciculation. Il y eut également une hyperkaliémie, de la myoglobinurie et une augmentation massive de la créatinine phosphokinase sérique. On discute des causes possibles du collapsus cardiovascu-laire et on revise des cas semblables publiés antérieurement. II est recommande d’éviter la succinylcholine et l’halothane chez les patients connus ou suspectés parteurs de dystrophie musculaire de Duchenne.
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Henderson, W.A.V. Succinylcholine-induced cardiac arrest in unsuspected Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Can Anaesth Soc J 31, 444–446 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03015422
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03015422