Pre-anesthesia evaluation leading to a diagnosis of long QT syndrome - a case study

ABSTRACT

Long QT Syndrome is a rare disorder characterized by prolongation of QT interval on an ECG. Patients with this disorder have an increased risk of developing life-threatening arrhythmias such as torsades de pointes, and occasionally sudden cardiac arrest. We present this case of undiagnosed Long QT Syndrome in a 7 years old boy, who presented to our service for incision and drainage of an abscess in the left axilla under general anesthesia. This case highlights the importance of proper and meticulous preanesthesia evaluation, even in low risk patients, so that potentially harmful medical conditions are diagnosed well in time and managed accordingly