IMR Press / RCM / Volume 5 / Issue 2 / pii/1561344971239-385659628

Reviews in Cardiovascular Medicine (RCM) is published by IMR Press from Volume 19 Issue 1 (2018). Previous articles were published by another publisher in Open Access under a CC-BY (or CC-BY-NC-ND) licence, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with MedReviews, LLC.

Open Access Case Review
Severe Reversible Left Ventricular Systolic and Diastolic Dysfunction Due to Accidental Iatrogenic Epinephrine Overdose
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1 Department of Medicine, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ
Rev. Cardiovasc. Med. 2004, 5(2), 130–133;
Published: 30 June 2004
Abstract
Catecholamine-induced cardiomyopathy due to chronic excess of endogenous catecholamines has been recognized for decades as a clinical phenomenon. In contrast, reports of myocardial dysfunction due to acute iatrogenic overdose are rare. A 35-year-old woman whose cervix uteri was inadvertently injected with 8 mg of epinephrine developed myocardial stunning that was characterized by severe hemodynamic compromise, profound, albeit transient, left ventricular systolic and diastolic dysfunction, and only modestly elevated biochemical markers of myocardial necrosis. Our case illustrates the serious consequences of medical errors that can be avoided through improved medication labeling and staff supervision.
Keywords
Echocardiography
Left ventricular dysfunction
Epinephrine
Stunning
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