Abstract

Aconitum is an extremely dangerous plant that contains various toxic diterpenoid alkaloids, primarily concentrated in the roots. We report a case of acute intoxication of a 60-year-old man admitted to our emergency department after ingestion of a large amount of homemade aconitine decoction. At presentation about one hour after intake, the patient was unconscious and electrocardiographic analysis showed a ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation. Several times defibrillation was applied and antiarrhythmic agents were administered, but the patient still exhibited a refractory ventricular fibrillation and failed to return to spontaneous circulation. Sustained cardiopulmonary resuscitation finally produced a pulsatile cardiac rhythm at two hours after intake. The patient was discharged from our hospital on day 8. The authors stress that clinicians must be aware of the possible occurrence of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmia in cases of aconitine intoxication and be prepared to persist with prolonged CPR as necessary.

• Keywords: Aconitine intoxication;Prolonged CPR;;