[A neonate with Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome who developed upper airway obstruction after glossopexy]

We report a case of a female neonate with Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome who manifested upper airway obstruction soon after birth and suffered from intractable hypoglycemia and abdominal distention caused by nephromegaly. She was delivered at 31 weeks of gestation with 2480 g and was diagnosed as Beckwith-Wiedeman syndrome, manifesting macroglossia, hepatomegaly, nephromegaly and omphalocele. Her trachea was intubated 30 minutes after birth due to upper airway obstruction. At 12 days of life, glossopexy was performed to relieve the airway obstruction. Although tracheal extubation was successfully accomplished 12 days later, 21 days after the glossopexy she manifested apnea and hypoxia and required tracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation again. We suspected hypoglycemia or central apnea to be the cause of apnea and started the administration of somatostatin analog as a treatment for hypoglycemia. In addition to the apnea, abdominal distention caused by nephromegaly exacerbated her respiratory condition. At 69 days of life she died of sepsis complicated with disseminated intravascular coagulation and renal failure. A needle biopsy at autopsy revealed nephroblastomatosis.