Difficult ventilation in a patient with a giant aortic aneurysm: A challenge for the anesthesiologist

Patients with Marfan syndrome present anatomic variations that may increase the risk of a difficult airway. Moreover, they can present large aortic aneurysms, which may cause extrinsic airway compression. Therefore, difficult ventilation during general anesthesia poses a challenge in that the anesth...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mar Montane-Muntane, María Ascaso, Lorena Rivera-Vallejo, Ricard Navarro-Ripoll
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2023-01-01
Series:Annals of Cardiac Anaesthesia
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.annals.in/article.asp?issn=0971-9784;year=2023;volume=26;issue=1;spage=86;epage=89;aulast=Montane-Muntane
Description
Summary:Patients with Marfan syndrome present anatomic variations that may increase the risk of a difficult airway. Moreover, they can present large aortic aneurysms, which may cause extrinsic airway compression. Therefore, difficult ventilation during general anesthesia poses a challenge in that the anesthesiologist has to promptly make a crucial differential diagnosis. Multidisciplinary preoperative assessment and planning of the airway and ventilation management are of utmost importance in such uncommon and highly complex clinical cases. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy is probably a really useful tool in order to assess the severity and extent of the airway compression, both preoperatively and intraoperatively. We present a clinical case where difficult ventilation occurred immediately after the induction of general anesthesia.
ISSN:0971-9784