Vol 17, No 5 (2010)
Case Reports
Published online: 2010-09-23
Recurrent ventricular arrhythmias and myocardial infarctions associated with cocaine induced reversible coronary vasospasm
Cardiol J 2010;17(5):512-517.
Abstract
Cocaine has become the most frequently used illicit drug among patients presenting to emergency
departments worldwide. Although acute myocardial infarction is the most common
reported cardiovascular manifestation in this setting, there are many other potential cardiotoxic
effects of cocaine use including coronary artery spasm, arrhythmia, and sudden death.
We report the case of a 54 year-old male with angiographically documented reversible coronary
arterial spasm leading to severe life-threatening recurrent ventricular arrhythmias and
electrocardiographic changes suggesting acute myocardial infarction secondary to cocaine use.
Recurrent ventricular arrhythmias of this patient required implantation of a cardioverter-defibrillator
which successfully treated following arrhythmia episodes. (Cardiol J 2010; 17, 5: 512-517)
Keywords: cocainearrhythmiasvasospasmmyocardial infarctioncardioverter-defibrillator