The Prevalence of Difficult Airway in Children With Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) is the most common congenital overgrowth disorder with an incidence of approximately 1 in 10,000 live births. The condition is characterized by lateralized overgrowth, abdominal wall defects, macroglossia, and predisposition to malignancy. Historically, children with BWS have been presumed to have difficult airways; however, most of the evidence to support this has been anecdotal and derived from case reports. Our study aimed to determine the prevalence of difficult airway in patients with BWS. We hypothesized that most patients with BWS would not have difficult airways. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the electronic medical records of patients enrolled in our institution's BWS registry. Patients with a molecular diagnosis of BWS who were anesthetized between January 2012 and July 2019 were included for analysis. The primary outcome was the presence of difficult airway, defined as difficult facemask ventilation, difficult intubation, or both. We defined difficult intubation as the need for 3 or more tracheal intubation attempts and the need for advanced airway techniques (nondirect laryngoscopy) to perform tracheal intubation or a Cormack and Lehane grade ≥3 during direct laryngoscopy. Secondary objectives were to define predictors of difficult intubation and difficult facemask ventilation, and the prevalence of adverse airway events. Generalized linear mixed-effect models were used to account for multiple anesthesia events per patient. RESULTS Of 201 BWS patients enrolled in the registry, 60% (n = 122) had one or more documented anesthetics, for a total of 310 anesthetics. A preexisting airway was present in 22 anesthetics. The prevalence of difficult airway was 5.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.0-9.3; 18 of 288) of the cases. The prevalence of difficult intubation was 5.2% (95% CI, 2.9-9.4; 12 of 226). The prevalence of difficult facemask ventilation was 2.9% (95% CI, 1.4-6.2; 12 of 277), and facemask ventilation was not attempted in 42 anesthetics. Age <1 year, macroglossia, lower weight, endocrine comorbidities, plastics/craniofacial surgery, tongue reduction surgery, and obstructive sleep apnea were associated with difficult airways in cases without a preexisting airway. About 83.8% (95% CI, 77.6-88.5) of the cases were intubated with a single attempt. Hypoxemia was the most common adverse event. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of difficult tracheal intubation and difficult facemask ventilation in children with BWS was 5.2% and 2.9%, respectively. We identified factors associated with difficult airway, which included age <1 year, macroglossia, endocrine abnormalities, plastics/craniofacial surgery, tongue reduction surgery, and obstructive sleep apnea. Clinicians should anticipate difficult airways in patients with these factors.