Citation

de Matos EM, Dionísio T, Dinis A, Milet I, Pires A, Carvalho L. Portuguese Journal of Pediatrics 2019; 50(3): 179-183.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019)

DOI

10.25754/pjp.2019.15039

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

We report the clinical case of a 17-year-old girl, observed in the emergency room 1.5 hours after voluntary ingestion of 6 g of propafenone and 1.5 g of ibuprofen. On arrival, she was conscious and without arrhythmias noted in the electrocardiogram. Gastric lavage was performed and activated charcoal administered. Fifteen minutes later, a convulsive episode was followed by sudden asystole, from which she recovered after four minutes of advanced life support. Subsequently, she had two episodes of asystole. She was then placed on inotropic support, but due to persistent haemodynamically significant bradycardia she required a transvenous temporary pacemaker. She was then admitted to pediatric intensive care unit, where for 72 hours post admission she remained haemodynamically unstable pacemaker-dependent. She was discharged after eight days, fully recovered and without neurological deficits. The favourable outcome was due to fast institution of cardiorespiratory resuscitation measures as well as inotrope support and transvenous temporary cardiac pacing. © 2019, Portuguese Society of Paediatrics. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Adolescent; Suicide, attempted; Propafenone/poisoning; Anti-arrhythmia agents/ poisoning; Drug overdose/complications; Heart arrest/ chemically induced