Traumatic asphyxia or Perthe's syndrome. Six cas reports

Abstract

Perthe's syndrome or traumatic asphyxia is a clinical syndrome associating cervicofacial cyanosis, petechia and subconjonctival hemorrhage to neurological symptoms. This syndrome appears after severe and transient compressive blunt chest injury. A Valsalva maneuver is necessary before thoracic compression for the development of this syndrome. The treatment includes rapid chest decompression and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The prognosis is good but a prolonged thoracic compression could lead to cerebral anoxia and neurological sequelae. We report six cases of Perthe's syndrome most of them resulting from thoracic compression after road traffic accidents. All of them made a good prognosis.