Tapia's Syndrome: keep it in mind!

Introduction: The aim of this study was to revise the etiologic features about Tapia's Syndrome (TS), a condition to particularly consider in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence acquisition: A systematic review was performed according to the PRISMA criteria. The Medline and Embase databases were searched from January 1, 1990, to December 31, 2020. Initially the search yielded 399 manuscripts, which were reduced to 50, upon the application of inclusion criteria. Evidence synthesis: A total of 65 patients were included in the present review. Mean age was 44±17.5 (DS) years (15-95); M:F ratio was 2.3:1. TS involved mainly the left side (3:2) and was rarely bilateral. Only 2 TS reported cases were due to central causes. Peripheral causes were mainly due to postintubation edema (77%), extrinsic compression (15%), vascular disease (3%), other/not defined (5%). Conclusions: TS is a rare syndrome that has been related to a combined cranial nerve palsy; while TS due to central causes is very rare, it is mainly related to peripheral causes. A particular attention to TS should be given during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, either since the correlation between Tapia's syndrome, airway management and anesthetic procedures, since the possible implication of the viral infection itself.