Dental management of a young child affected by galactosialidosis and a gigantic abdominal growth

Galactosialidosis (GS) is a rare form of lysosomal storage disease that involves a broad spectrum of skeletal and soft tissue abnormalities. We report here on a 4-year 7-month-old boy with mild mental retardation, exhibiting multiple caries cavities and associated infectious foci and macroglossia. A huge abdominal enlargement due to peritoneal ascites was evident. Behavioral management and patient positioning on the dental chair represented a true challenge. The patient was treated under general anesthesia. However, life-Threatening postoperative complications occurred because of the impossibility of extubating the patient. A very careful preanesthetic assessment is crucial in children affected by general conditions associated with airway anomalies, such as GS. © 2018 Yoselín Méndez-Salado et al.

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