The anesthetic management of a patient with Cohen syndrome

Cohen syndrome is a rare genetic disorder caused by autosomal recessive inheritance and is characterized by the following features: mental retardation, infantile hypotonia, micrognathia, narrow and high-arched palate, microcephaly, prominent upper central incisors, poor dentition, short stature, and truncal obesity. Some patients have strabismus, myopia, optic atrophy, and total blindness. A small number of cases present with heart defects or mitral valve prolapse. Only approximately 100 cases have been reported in the world literature. The administration of general anesthesia in patients with Cohen syndrome can be a challenge because most of these patients are mentally retarded and uncooperative and have facial malformations that may make intubation difficult. We present our experience with the anesthetic management of a patient with Cohen syndrome.