Cardiac Anesthesia Management of an Acquired Methemoglobinemia Patient

Abstract

Acquired methemoglobinemia occurs most commonly from the ingestion of medications or toxins that oxidize the ferrous iron of hemoglobin. Anesthetizing patients with methemoglobinemia is a highly specialized task. Nevertheless, cardiac anesthesia for these patients requires high attention on maintenance of precise O₂ delivery to tissues. We herein, describe an uneventful course of an acquired methemoglobinemia patient having on pump mitral valve replacement and two coronary vessel bypass grafting surgery with review of the literature.