Aconite Toxicity Presenting as Electrical Storm: A Diagnostic and Therapeutic Challenge

Abstract

Aconite is a plant with deceptively beautiful flowers that contain a deadly cardiotoxin. Aconite toxicity presents with often fatal ventricular arrhythmias that are refractory to conventional antiarrhythmic medications. An electrical storm (ES) is an acute cardiac emergency that carries a high mortality. We report one such case of acute aconite toxicity presenting with ES that was managed successfully with hemodynamic support, overdrive pacing, and charcoal hemoperfusion with high-flux ultrafiltration.