Prolonged suxamethonium-induced neuromuscular blockade associated with organophosphate poisoning.

We report a patient, exposed to Malathion during agricultural work, who suffered a prolonged apnoea after the administration of suxamethonium. He had a normal phenotype (E1u E1u), but an extremely low plasma cholinesterase activity. The diagnosis was made by assaying cholinesterase activity and analysing the enzymic components by electrophoresis on polyacrylamide gel slabs. The results indicated that the apnoea was a result of the low activity of plasma cholinesterase induced by Malathion.