Prolonged apnoea after suxamethonium in a Malaysian patient due to silent plasma cholinesterase--first case report

A bnormal variants of plasma cholinesterase (ChE, EC. 3.1.1.8) are a rarity in this region and to date there is no reported case of suxamethonium sensitivity in the Malaysian population. We now report a case of a Malaysian Indian patient who received suxamethonium, developed prolonged apnoea and on investigation was found to be a homozygote for the silent gene. His family was screened for abnormal variants of plasma cholinesterase. The results are discussed.