Parry Romberg, syndrome

see also linear scleroderma

Very rare. Sporadic. Progressive atrophy of the skin, soft tissue and bony structures of half of the face. Affection often begins  around puberty and during 3-5 years before stabilizing. Neurological signs may be associated:  Horner's syndrome, ataxia, migraine, trigeminal neuralgia, epilepsy.


Anesthetic implications:

risk of difficult mask ventilation: fullfill the gap between the face and the mask with humidified gauze pads or modeling clay; risk of difficult intubation; risk of pulmonary fibrosis: chest XRay; one case of acute rhabdomyolysis with cardiac arrest has been reported following the use of succinylcholine. Beware of the possible ocular and neurological complications.


References : 

-         Tritakarn T, Teeratchanan T. 
Acute rhabdomyolysis and cardiac arrest following succinylcholine in a patient with Parry-Romberg syndrome. 
Anaesth Intens Care 2011; 39: 135-6.

-        Karkar AM, Hong T.
Anesthesia management of a patient with Parry-Romberg syndrome: a case report.
J Anesth Clin Res 2014; 5: 397-9

-        Jayaram K, Gurala I, Ramachandran G.
Difficult mask ventilation made easy: three cases of Parry Romberg syndrome.
Indian J Anaesth 2016; 60: 280-3.


Updated: November 2018