Critical Events in Patients With Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood: A Cohort Study Subgroup Analysis.
Emily M Funk, Guy de L Dear, Mary E Moya-Mendez and 7 others
PMID 39945148WHAT IT FOUND
Four critical events occurred in 14 patients with alternating hemiplegia of childhood, all in those with ATP1A3 variants, including PACU bradycardia and cardiac arrest.
No type of general anesthesia was linked to events.
Key findings
01All observed perioperative critical events occurred in patients with ATP1A3 variants.
02Symptomatic bradycardia occurred in 3 of 14 patients during 4 general anesthetics, and all had the ATP1A3-D801N variant.
03A suspected AHC spell led to cancellation before induction, and a seizure, hemiplegic spell, and cardiac arrest occurred after emergence.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Only 14 patients were reviewed at a single referral center, and the authors state the cohort is not large enough for statistical analysis. This is a historical record review, not a controlled comparison, so it can describe associations but cannot show that a variant or anesthetic caused the events. Referral bias may have affected the types of patients with AHC included. The authors cannot recommend specific anesthesia techniques as safer than others.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that any specific anesthetic technique caused these events. The paper found no relationship between type of general anesthesia and critical event, and all observed events occurred in patients with ATP1A3 variants.