Pediatric Anesthesia ISSN 1155-5645 SPECIAL INTEREST ARTICLE (REVIEW) Preoperative evaluation and comprehensive risk assessment for children with Down syndrome Amy Feldman Lewanda1, Andrew Matisoff2, Mary Revenis3, Ashraf Harahsheh4, Craig Futterman5, Gustavo Nino6, Jay Greenberg7, John S. Myseros8, Kenneth N. Rosenbaum1 & Marshall Summar1 1 Division of Genetics & Metabolism, Children’s National Health System, Washington, DC, USA 2 Divisions of Anesthesiology, Sedation, and Perioperative Medicine, Children’s National Health System, Washington, DC, USA 3 Division of Neonatology, Children’s National Health System, Washington, DC, USA 4 Division of Cardiology, Children’s National Health System, Washington, DC, USA 5 Division of Critical Care Medicine, Children’s National Health System, Washington, DC, USA 6 Divisions of Pulmonary Medicine and Sleep Medicine, Children’s National Health System, Washington, DC, USA 7 Divisions of Hematology and Oncology, Children’s National Health System, Washington, DC, USA 8 Division of Neurosurgery, Children’s National Health System, Washington, DC, USA Keywords Summary Down syndrome; trisomy 21; surgery; anesthesia; perioperative; preoperative Down syndrome is a common chromosome disorder affecting all body sys- tems. This creates unique physiologic concerns that can affect safety during Correspondence anesthesia and surgery. Little consensus exists, however, on the best way to Amy Feldman Lewanda, Division of evaluate children with Down syndrome in preparation for surgery. We review Genetics & Metabolism, Children’s National a number of salient topics affecting these children in the perioperative period, Health System, 111 Michigan Ave. NW, including cervical spine instability, cardiovascular abnormalities, pulmonary Washington, DC 20010, USA Email:
[email protected] hypertension, upper airway obstruction, hematologic disturbances, prematu- rity, low birth weight, and the use of supplements and alternative therapies.