| A sweet tooth as the root cause of cardiac arrest. | |
| | |
MedLine Citation:
|
PMID: 19812810 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
|
A 71-year-old woman was admitted with hypotension and bradycardia. An electrocardiogram showed flattened T waves and increased U wave prominence, resulting in a long QT(U) syndrome. Her initial serum potassium level was 1.6 mmol/L (all other electrolytes, including magnesium, were normal). She suffered recurrent ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation arrest requiring direct current cardioversion and high-dose intravenous potassium chloride replacement. Systematic enquiry revealed that she had been constipated for a number of months and had resorted to consuming large quantities of liquorice on a daily basis for its laxative effects. Endocrinology review identified no primary abnormality of the renin- angiotensin- aldosterone axis, and the patient was diagnosed with hypokalemia secondary to liquorice overindulgence. Liquorice has a mineralocorticoid effect. If chronically consumed in large quantities, this effect may lead to severe depletion of whole-body potassium stores. The present case highlights a rare but important cause of hypokalemic cardiac arrest of which all acute care physicians should be aware. |
| | |
Authors:
|
Andrew M Crean; Saif-El-Dean T Abdel-Rahman; John Pierre Greenwood |
Publication Detail:
|
Type: Case Reports; Journal Article |
Journal Detail:
|
Title: The Canadian journal of cardiology Volume: 25 ISSN: 1916-7075 ISO Abbreviation: Can J Cardiol Publication Date: 2009 Oct |
Date Detail:
|
Created Date: 2009-10-08 Completed Date: 2009-10-27 Revised Date: 2010-10-04 |
Medline Journal Info:
|
Nlm Unique ID: 8510280 Medline TA: Can J Cardiol Country: Canada |
Other Details:
|
Languages: eng Pagination: e357-8 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
|
Department of Cardiology, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario. andrew.crean@uhn.on.ca |
Export Citation:
|
APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex |
| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
|
Aged Electrocardiography Female Glycyrrhiza / adverse effects* Heart Arrest / diagnosis, etiology* Humans Hypokalemia / chemically induced*, complications*, physiopathology Long QT Syndrome / complications*, diagnosis Plants, Medicinal |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
Previous Document: Effects of levosimendan versus dobutamine on left atrial function in decompensated heart failure.
Next Document: Acute myocardial infarction due to vasospasm induced by prostaglandin.