Anesthesia and myotonic dystrophy (Steinert’s syndrome)

PubMed, the Internet portal of biomedical and life sciences literature, indexed an interesting article, entitled Anesthesia and myotonic dystrophy (Steinert’s syndrome). The role of total intravenous anesthesia with propofol, cisatracurium and remifentanyl. Case report. ( Minerva Anestesiol. 2007 Sep;73(9):475-9). Authors are Catena V Del Monte DD Rubini A et al., from the Intensive Care Unit, ULSS 3, Bassano del Grappa Hospital, Vicenza, Italy. Anesthesia for patients with Steinert’s syndrome (myotonic dystrophy, MD) is a challenge for the anaesthetist. MD is a multisystemic disease and the neuromuscular symptoms can be associated with sleep apnea, endocrine disorders (diabetes, hypogonadism, hypothyroidism), cardiac, gastroenteric or cognitive disorders (mental deficiency, attention disorders). The diagnosis is facilitated when one or more of these symptoms are associated with the neuromuscular symptoms; however, the latter are not always present at the onset, which makes the diagnosis of MD a difficult and often late one. The choice of drugs and the choice of anesthesia in these patients can be very challenging for many reasons. To access the full abstract of the article, click here.