Neuraxial anesthesia in Lutembacher's syndrome? Yes, we can!

Abstract

Lutembacher's syndrome is a rare congenital cardiac syndrome comprising of a combination of an atrial septal defect complicated by congenital or acquired mitral stenosis. The applied physiology of the patient depends upon the severity and the interactions of the lesions. They pose certain difficulties to the administration of both general or neuraxial anesthesia. A preference of one form of anesthesia over the other should be based on the understanding of the physiology of the patient. There should not be an orthodox avoidance of neuraxial anesthesia in complex cardiac pathologies as general anesthesia can be associated with certain complications of its own. Here, we report our successful experience of neuraxial anesthesia being administered in a patient with Lutembacher's syndrome.

Keywords: Acyanotic heart disease; Lutembacher’s syndrome; cardiac physiology; neuraxial anesthesia; structural heart disease.