Last modified: 27th November 2022
Potentially implicated drugs:
Mivacurium
Suxamethonium
Pseudocholinesterase deficiency can be acquired and/or be inherited.
The inherited form of the enzyme transfers in an autosomal recessive manner secondary to mutations in the butyrylcholinesterase gene, located on chromosome 3, 3q26.1-26.20. Patients may therefore present as heterozygotes with only one gene coding for the abnormal enzyme or as a homozygote with both genes coding for the defective pseudocholinesterase enzyme.
People who have this abnormality may be sensitive to certain anesthetic drugs, including the muscle relaxants succinylcholine and mivacurium as well as other ester local anesthetics.