Citation

Witharana EW, Wijetunga WM, Sathanandan PP, Wijesinghe SK, Wickramaratne LG. Ceylon Med. J. 2014; 59(3): 97-98.

Affiliation

Base Hospital, Deniyaya, Sri Lanka. elapathawitharana@gmail.com.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Sri Lanka Medical Association)

DOI

10.4038/cmj.v59i3.6568

PMID

25286098

Abstract

Plant poisoning is not an uncommon problem in Sri Lanka. A hospital based prospective study showed that Jatropha curcas, Ricinus communis, Dieffenbachia, Adenia palmata, Amanita phalloides and Thevetia peruviana are common poisonous plants implicated in poisoning among children in Sri Lanka. In the past, deliberate ingestion of yellow oleander seeds (Thevetia peruviana) was a common method of self-harm in north central part of Sri Lanka. The case-fatality rate of untreated patients was at least 10%. Seeds of yellow oleander contain cardiac glycosides which cause cardiac dysarrhythmias.

We report a patient with panama rubber (Castilla elastica) poisoning who presented with severe cardiac toxicity and nodal bradycardia. A literature review did not show previous reports of cases of cardiac toxicity and nodal bradycardia as a result of panama rubber (Castilla elastica) poisoning.

Language: en