• Nesse Mintjens, Roy Brummans, Filiep Soetens, ClaesKathleen B MKBMCenter for Medical Genetics, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium., and Luc E Vanlinthout.
• Department of Anaesthesia, AZ Turnhout, Turnhout, Belgium.
• Acta Anaesthesiol Scand. 2021 Feb 1; 65 (2): 182-187.

IntroductionVariants of butyrylcholinesterase are frequently associated with prolonged response to suxamethonium or mivacurium. Butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) can be characterized by phenotyping and determination of genotype. Inappropriate timing of blood sampling might interfere with phenotyping methods. However, guidelines regarding delay between exposure to anaesthesia and testing are not clearly defined. In this study, the BChE activity and phenotype in an early (T1) and late (T2) phase were compared and the phenotype/genotype correlation was assessed.MethodsPatients with a prolonged paralysis after mivacurium or suxamethonium were selected after ethical committee approval and written consent. BChE activity was based on butyrylthiocholine hydrolysis rate and phenotyping on differential inhibition of BChE activity with dibucaine and fluoride. DNA sequencing allowed genotypic characterization.ResultsWe included the results of 20 patients with prolonged neuromuscular block (NMB) induced by mivacurium or suxamethonium. In these patients, BChE activity was different at T1 and T2 (2120 [1506-2733] U L-1 and 4055 [2810-5301] U L-1 , respectively; P = 0.0014; values are mean [95% CI]). When phenotyping was possible, phenotyping at T1 and T2 yielded identical results. Phenotyping failed to identify one new variant (p.Tyr146Cys) and the K variant in 14 of 16 patients.ConclusionAnaesthesia interfered with BChE activity, but not with phenotyping. Phenotyping can be performed on blood drawn during or immediately after recovery of mivacurium or suxamethonium to screen for clinically relevant variants of BChE. However, accurate diagnosis of BChE deficiency needs further confirmation by determination of genotype.© 2020 The Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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