Frequencies of atypical serum cholinesterase in a mixed population of northeastern Brazil

Frequencies of the CHE1*A allele were estimated in 84 Whites and 772 Negroids from a random sample of Salvador, Bahia. The overall frequency of this gene in Negroids was estimated as 0.842 +/- 0.233%. This indicates that this sample presents around 50 +/- 17% of White admixture and that the estimate of the risk of developing prolonged apnoea in individuals submitted to suxamethonium is around 0.035%, that is about 1 out of 2,900.