In south africa, which had the highest world incidence of variegate porphyria. Volume thirty genetic aspects of the practice of anesthesiology introduction the multitude of genes along the spiral of the dna molecule in our chromosomes carry the recipe for an almost infinite variety of proteins that may affect the course of anesthesia. Porphyria and its neurologic manifestations jennifer a. Protoporphyrinogen and coproporphyrinogen accumulate in the liver in variegate porphyria because ppox is deficient, and become oxidized to. Broadly, they can be classified into inducible, and non. Macnab kilmarnock infirmary, scotland the anaesthetist may encounter porphyria at any stage of the disease dundee, 1956, although he most frequently does so during an acute attack. The types that affect the nervous system are also known as acute porphyria. The prescription of drugs to a patient with acute porphyria is. Disease definition variegate porphyria is a form of acute hepatic porphyria see this term characterized by the occurrence of neurovisceral attacks with or without the presence of cutaneous lesions. Also, because porphyria is rare, many doctors have not seen cases of the disorder before, making it more difficult to diagnosis. Anesthetic management of a patient with variegate porphyria. Porphyrias are a set of autosomally inherited metabolic disorders that are the result various defects in heme synthesis. Porphyria as a problem in anaesthesia springerlink. Facing a patient with acute intermittent porphyria aip, there is narrow safety margin which circumscribe all the therapeutic actions including choice of drugs.
Porphyria cutanea tarda most common form of porphyria deficiency of uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase patients develop chronic blistering lesions on areas of the skin that are exposed to sun. It is an inherited disorder characterised by skin photosensitivity reaction to light, systemic symptoms arising from neurological. Porphyrias are monogenic and autosomal genetic conditions and each is linked to a deficiency of haem metabolising enzymes. In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content porphyria variegataa problem for the anesthesiologist jacobus w.
In the past, anesthesia posed a real risk for patients with unrecognized porphyria. These four entities, of all the porphyrias, are the only ones with neuropsychiatric manifestations. With the exception of pp, which is recessive, these porphyrias are inherited as non. We use a case of variegate porphyria to illustrate how the manifestations may be. Anaesthesia recommendations for patients suffering from. Whilst most triggers of variegate porphyria appear to be drugs, in some cases the inducing factor is unknown.
The diagnosis of porphyria variegata, which is the type of disease common in south africa, is not possible during intermissions between attacks by examining the urine, but at all times the diagnosis is possible by examining an emulsion made from the faeces as described by dean 1 with the aid of wooda s light. Local anaesthesia including dental the safety of local anaesthetic agents remains a controversial issue due to experimental evidence that some of the local anaesthetic agents are porphyrogenic in either animal models e. The welsh medicines information centre wmic offers a specialist advisory service on the safe use of drugs in porphyria. The disorder results from low levels of the enzyme responsible for the seventh step in heme production. Drugs used during anaesthesia may trigger an acute attack. Jul 01, 2000 guidelines for selecting drugs for anaesthesia in patients with porphyria. Variegate porphyria vp is an inherited disorder that is caused by mutations in the ppox gene that lead to the buildup of compounds normally involved in the bodys production of heme. Medication use in acute porphyria should always be discussed jointly by patient and health care professional, and if in doubt, further advice should be obtained.
Because porphyria s signs and symptoms usually arent distinctive, laboratory tests are required to make a definitive diagnosis and to determine which type of porphyria. This study assessed the safety of surgery under general anaesthesia in these patients. The acute porphyrias are the most clinically significant in anaesthetic practice. Local anaesthesia including dental european porphyria. Porphyrias producing acute neuropsychiatric features. Porphyria can appear in childhood, as seen in epp, but the onset is usually between the ages of 20 and 40 and it affects women more than men. Safety of general anaesthesia and surgery in acute hepatic.
Acute porphyria with abdominal pain andor neuropsychiatric symptoms can cause serious emergencies and include. Patients with variegate porphyria must be informed about the factors that can trigger the acute symptoms of the condition. They may be genetically inherited or directly acquired. Variegate porphyria, also known by several other names, is an autosomal dominant porphyria that can have acute severe but usually not longlasting symptoms along with symptoms that affect the skin. Variegate porphyria vp is an inherited disorder of porphyrinheme metabolism arising from mutations of the gene encoding the enzyme protoporphyrinogen oxidase. Acute porphyrias are rare inherited disorders due to deficiencies of haem synthesis. Anesthetic management for combined doublevalve and coronary. Porphyria metabolic disorders types, causes, treatment. In these susceptible people it can be triggered by exposure to certain medicines or chemicals, including oral contraceptives and alcohol. The brother had a uroisocoprotype of porphyria in accord with the diagnosis of porphyria.
Anaesthesia for coronary artery bypass in a patient with porphyria variegata. Modern diagnosis and management of the porphyrias shigeru sassa laboratory of biochemical hematology, the rockefeller university, new york, usa summary recent advances in the molecular understanding of the porphyrias now offer speci. Each porphyria is characterised by a specific partial enzyme deficiency fig 1. Modern diagnosis and management of the porphyrias shigeru sassa laboratory of biochemical hematology, the rockefeller university, new york, usa summary recent advances in the molecular. Pct is usually associated with hepatic disease but not acute neurologic crisis. Dyck mayo clinic, department of neurology, rochester, mn, usa introduction porphyrias are rare disorders of heme metabolism, each characterized by a defect in an enzyme required for the synthesis of heme. Porphyria variegata an overview sciencedirect topics. Drugs in porphyria welsh medicines information centre. Porphyria is a group of diseases in which substances called porphyrins build up, negatively affecting the skin or nervous system. Heme contains iron and is used in metabolic processes throughout the body.
All acute porphyrias have the potential to develop acute neurovisceral crises when a precipitating event occurs table 2. The sister exhibited the protocoproporphyria of porphyria variegata, together with a large amount of fecal x porphyrin fraction, without demonstrable isocoproporphyrins. Hift rj 1993 anaesthesia for the porphyric patient. The acute porphyrias include acute intermittent porphyria aip, variegate porphyria vp, hereditary coproporphyria hcp and the very rare plumboporphyria pp. General anaesthesia may be safely undertaken in patients with an acute porphyria acute intermittent porphyria, variegate porphyria or hereditary coproporphyria providing care is taken to select anaesthetic agents that are known to be safe. Porphyria cutanea tarda pct is the only hepatic porphyria without neurologic sequelae. Two of these, both acute, are of importance to the anaesthesiologist. Porphyria occurs when the body cannot convert compounds called porphyrins into heme.
Porphyria genetic and rare diseases information center. However, many porphyria services offer screening through an annual liver ultrasound to patients aged over 50 years with past or current symptoms. Protoporphyrinogen and coproporphyrinogen accumulate in the liver in variegate porphyria because ppox is deficient, and become oxidized to protoporphyrin and coproporphyrin, which are transported in the blood plasma and cause the skin to be sensitive to sunlight. They are very sensitive to sun exposure photosensitive and develop skin blisters and sores when they are exposed to sunlight. It is in precipitating these symptoms that some anesthetic agents are. The diseases which result vary in severity from the harmless to the life threatening.
General anaesthesia requires the selection of agents safe in porphyria. Porphyria is the name for a group of rare conditions that involve a molecule called heme or haem. The types that affect the nervous system are also known as acute porphyria, as symptoms are rapid in onset and last a short time. Uroporphyria and protoporphyria are classified as erythropoietic. The management of porphyria in dental practice article pdf available in british dental journal 1933. Manifestations of variegate porphyria in any given individual may include cutaneous photosensitivity, systemic symptoms arising from neurologic dysfunction, or both.
Facing a patient with acute intermittent porphyria aip, there is. Variegate porphyria genetic and rare diseases information. However, in most people affected there is no family history. Porphyrias present special anesthetic challenges, including preoperative assessment of a patient with acute abdominal pain, intraoperative management of. Mostert porphyrin metabolism may be disturbed by a striking increase in the formation and excretion of porphyrins or their precursors. Epidural analgesia is safe, preferably using bupivacaine rather than mepivacaine. Porphyria represents a basic metabolic disturbance and appears in many forms. Activity of the enzymes alad and pbg deaminase in the red blood cells is readily measurable and can be helpful for establishing the diagnosis in aladdeficiency porphyria and acute intermittent porphyria, respectively. Dec 20, 2019 variegate porphyria vp is an inherited disorder of porphyrinheme metabolism arising from mutations of the gene encoding the enzyme protoporphyrinogen oxidase.
The norwegian porphyria centre is responsible for the development of this multilanguage drug database. Cord blood can be tested to determine whether the infant has inherited porphyria from a parent. Variegate porphyria vp is an inherited porphyria characterized by cutaneous blistering and or acute neurovisceral attacks. Macnab kilmarnock infirmary, scotland the anaesthetist may encounter porphyria. General anaesthesia in the acute porphyrias european. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Acute intermittent porphyria, hereditary coproporphyria, porphyria variegata definition. Type published article journal anaesthesia and intensive care publication. This leads to altered patterns of synthesis of porphyrins and their precursors, which accumulate and are linked to clinical. Anaesthesia for coronary artery bypass in a patient with. A populationbased cohort study was designed by record linkage between the norwegian porphyria register, covering 70% of all known porphyria patients in norway, and the medical birth registry of. Broadly, they can be classified into inducible, and noninducible forms.
Porphyria variegata definition of porphyria variegata by. The uk porphyria medicines information service ukpmis is provided in conjunction with the cardiff porphyria. Signs and symptoms of porphyria vary, depending on the specific type and severity. Porphyria cutanea tarda can be genetically inherited in families. People with variegate porphyria can also have neurological symptoms in the form of episodes acute attacks of severe stomach pain, nausea and vomiting. Patients with acute hepatic porphyria are denied essential operations because of concern that general anaesthesia and surgery will precipitate a life threatening porphyric crisis. Aug 17, 2015 only six cases of deltaaminolevulinic acid dehydratase deficiency porphyria are documented. Testing cord blood for inheritance of porphyria in the infant.
Precipitating factors increase the demand for haem in the liver, for example, by inducing the haemcontaining cytochrome p450 family of enzymes, which results in an increased flux through the pathway and accumulation of substrate before the enzyme defect. Pregnancy and delivery porphyria for professionals. However, a thorough neurological and cardiovascular examination must be carried out by a senior clinician before a regional technique is undertaken, to diagnose preexisting neurological deficits, and the presence of autonomic neuropathy. Pdf to text batch convert multiple files software please purchase personal license. Drugs that are considered to be safe for use in the acute porphyrias this safe list was produced jointly by uk porphyria medicines information service ukpmis and cardiff porphyria service and is supported by the national acute porphyria.
Read diagnosis of porphyria in infants and children. Drugs that are considered to be safe for use in the acute porphyrias this safe list was produced jointly by uk porphyria medicines information service ukpmis and cardiff porphyria service and is supported by the national acute porphyria service naps. I960, 32, 505 anaesthesia in porphyria by walter norris royal infirmary, glasgow, scotland and graham w. Guidelines for selecting drugs for anaesthesia in patients with porphyria. British journal of anaesthesia, volume 85, issue 1, 1 july 2000. The information in this database contains some degree of uncertainty and is meant to be a guide for health care professionals. A health care provider treats porphyria cutanea tarda by removing factors that tend to activate the disease and by performing repeated therapeutic phlebotomies to reduce iron in the liver.
Vp has also been called porphyria variegata, south african genetic porphyria, mixed porphyria an obsolete term also applied to hereditary coproporphyria hcp, protocoproporphyria, and porphyria cutanea tarda hereditaria which likely included some cases. Though antenatal diagnosis is technically possible, it is not indicated for a relatively benign disorder such as porphyria. The porphyria variegata is an acute, autosomal dominant inherited form of the porphyria. Porphyria is usually inherited one or both parents pass along an abnormal gene to their child. Narr, in complications in anesthesia second edition, 2007. Porphyria variegata and porphyria cutanea tarda in. Anesthetic implication of tricuspid valve replacement in a patient.
Acute attacks are characterized by severe abdominal. There is no absolute contradiction to the use of regional anaesthesia in porphyria. Anesthetic implication of tricuspid valve replacement in a. The porphyrias are a heterogeneous group of metabolic disorders arising from defects in the haem biosynthetic pathway.
The information in this drug database for acute porphyria is meant to be used by health care professionals, even though it may also be of interest to patients. The acute porphyrias include acute intermittent porphyria aip. Overview of the four acute porphyrias four acute porphyrias cause acute, selflimiting attacks that lead to chronic and progressive deficits symptoms of acute attacks mimic other diseases and increase the potential for misdiagnosis. Merkblatt referenzlabor stadtspital trieml zurich pdf. Dec 17, 2018 people with variegate porphyria have abnormal production of heme. General anaesthesia may be safely undertaken in patients with an acute porphyria acute intermittent porphyria, variegate porphyria or hereditary coproporphyria providing care is taken to select. Variegate porphyria is a hepatic form of porphyria. Acute intermittent porphyria aip is a genetic derangement of heme synthesis, which can lead to auto nomic, sensory, and motor neuropathy. The rare homozygous variant of vp is characterized by severe ppox deficiency, onset of photosensitization by porphyrins in early childhood, skeletal abnormalities of the hand, and, less constantly, short stature, mental retardation, and convulsions roberts et al. Hence it is sensible to minimize exposure to risk factors. In addition to the ukpmis list of safe drugs, the european porphyria initiative epi website. Classification of porphyria porphyria is the genetic name given to a group of diseases in which excess porphyrin is formed in the tissues. Red blood cell pbg deaminase levels that are about 50% of normal suggest acute intermittent porphyria.
Heme is an important part of hemoglobin, the protein in blood that carries oxygen throughout our bodies. This would become even more complicated when it comes to a stressful and drugdependent process like a cardiopulmonary bypass. Dyck mayo clinic, department of neurology, rochester, mn, usa introduction porphyrias are rare disorders of heme. This study assessed the safety of surgery under general anaesthesia. Other hepatic porphyrias are associated with abdominal pain, peripheral neuropathy, and mental status changes, with crisis frequently precipitated by triggering drugs. Porphyria variegataa problem for the anesthesiologist.