Abstract
We investigated the relationship between the development of aconite poisoning-induced arrhythmia and time of ingestion or the ingested aconite plant parts as well as the outcome of treatment for such arrhythmia for 10 patients.Three of them exhibited ventricular tachycardia (VT) and ventricular fibrillation (Vf),which are potentially fatal arrhythmias.Two of these patients ingested aconite roots in June or November,and the third patient ingested aconite leaves in April.The other seven patients did not develop any potentially fatal arrhythmias.Four of these patients ingested aconite leaves in April or May,and the remaining three patients ingested aconite roots in March,August or September.Nine of the ten patients ingested aconite leaves or roots at the same time as they gathered them.
The antiarrhythmic agent lidocaine was ineffective against the VT and Vf that 3 patients developed.It was effective against the other ventricular arrhythmias with the effect differing depending on the part of the plant ingested.Effectiveness was seen for patients who had ingested leaves but not for those who had ingested roots.
Our data did not show that the severity of the arrhythmia was influenced by the part of the plant ingested or the time of ingestion.They do however suggest that the effect of lidocaine was influenced by the type of arrhythmia and the part of the plant ingested and therefore should prove useful in determining the suitability of lidocaine treatment for arrhythmia due to aconite poisoning.
