Successful pregnancy, epidural anaesthesia, labour, and delivery in a woman with Sturge-Weber syndrome and previous hemispherectomy.

Background: The outcomes of pregnancy and subsequent delivery of healthy neonates in women who have undergone previous near total hemispherectomy for Sturge-Weber syndrome (SWS) have rarely been reported.

Case: A woman with SWS had two successful and uncomplicated pregnancies and deliveries under epidural anaesthesia after undergoing a near total hemispherectomy with subsequent unilateral cerebral palsy. Non-contrast MRI of the brain revealed post hemispherectomy changes with no residual meningeal angiomatosis.

Anesthetic considerations of parturients with obesity and obstructive sleep apnea.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is characterized by upper airway collapse and obstruction during sleep. It is estimated to affect nearly 5% of the general female population. Obesity is often associated with OSA.

Improved esophageal patency when inserting the ProSeal laryngeal mask airway with an Eschmann tracheal tube introducer.

Purpose: We hypothesized that a more accurate alignment of the tip of the drain tube with the upper esophageal opening would be achieved in adult patients, as confirmed by fibreoptic bronchoscopy, by placing the ProSeal laryngeal mask airway (PLMA) by means of guiding it over an Eschmann tracheal tube introducer, commonly know as a gum elastic bougie (GEB), that was previously inserted into the esophagus, rather than by placing the PLMA with a curved metal introducer (IT).

Methods: Seventy-five adult elective surgery patients, whose airway management involved a PLMA, were randomly allocated to either the GEB- or IT-guided techniques. After inserting the PLMA, alignment of the tip of the drain tube relative to the esophageal opening was verified by a fibrescope introduced through the drain tube.