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Hereditary angioedema is a rare genetic disorder resulting from an inherited deficiency or dysfunction of the C1-esterase inhibitor of the classic complement pathway. It is characterised by recurrent episodes of angioedema, without urticaria or pruritus, most often affecting the skin or the mucosal tissues of the upper respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts. We describe the peri-operative care of a woman with hereditary angioedema undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy with emphasis on the role of anaesthetists as peri-operative physicians.

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia, also called right ventricular cardiomyopathy, is a genetically determined heart muscle disease, characterised by life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias in apparently healthy young people. The primary myocardial pathology is that the myocardium of the right ventricular free wall is replaced by fibrous or fibrofatty tissue, with scattered residual myocardial cells. Right ventricular function is abnormal and in severe cases is associated with global right ventricular dilation and overt biventricular heart failure. Although still relatively rare, arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy is a well recognised cause of sudden unexpected peri-operative death. In this review, we describe the basic characteristics of this disease, emphasising the diagnosis and we offer some suggestions for the anaesthetic management of these patients in the peri-operative period.

Hereditary angioedema is a rare genetic disorder resulting from an inherited deficiency or dysfunction of the C1-esterase inhibitor of the classic complement pathway. It is characterised by recurrent episodes of angioedema, without urticaria or pruritus, most often affecting the skin or the mucosal tissues of the upper respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts. We describe the peri-operative care of a woman with hereditary angioedema undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy with emphasis on the role of anaesthetists as peri-operative physicians.