Fatal rhabdomyolysis complicating general anaesthesia in a child with Becker muscular dystrophy.
A 6-yr-old boy who presented with brown urine due to myoglobinuria and who was otherwise virtually asymptomatic was diagnosed as having Becker muscular dystrophy on the basis of a greatly elevated creatine kinase, muscle biopsy, dystrophin analysis, and a deletion of exons 3-7 in the dystrophin gene. Fifteen months later, during a general anaesthetic for dental treatment, he had a cardiac arrest associated with acute rhabdomyolysis, hyperkalaemia and hypocalcaemia. He died 4 days later. This case is reported to highlight this rare but potentially fatal complication of anaesthesia in muscular dystrophy, and to discuss possible ways of preventing such a catastrophe.
Bush
A
A
Department of Paediatrics and Neonatal Medicine, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London, U.K.
Dubowitz
V
V
D000766:Anesthesia, Dental; D000768:Anesthesia, General; D002648:Child; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009136:Muscular Dystrophies / Q000150:complications*; D012206:Rhabdomyolysis / Q000150:complications*