CASE REPORT

Cardiac emergencies caused by honey ingestion: a single centre experience

H Özhan¹, R Akdemir², M Yazici², H Gündüz², S Duran², C Uyan²

¹ Abant zzet Baysal Üniversitesi Düzce Tp Fakültesi, Kardiyoloji Klinii Konuralp, Düzce, Turkey
² Abant zzet Baysal University Düzce Faculty of Medicine, Konuralp Düzce, Turkey

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr H Özhan
Abant zzet Baysal Üniversitesi Düzce Tp Fakültesi, Kardiyoloji Klinii Konuralp, Düzce, Turkey; ozhanhakan{at}yahoo.com

An unusual type of food poisoning is commonly seen in the Black Sea coast of Turkey attributable to andromedotoxin containing toxic honey ingestion. This study is a retrospective case series of 19 patients admitted to an emergency department in 2002, poisoned by "mad" honey. All of the patients had the complaints of nausea, vomiting, sweating, dizziness, and weakness, several hours after ingesting "mad" honey. Physical examination showed hypotension in 15 patients, sinus bradycardia in 15, and complete atrioventricular block (AVB) in four patients on admission. Two patients with bradycardia and two with AVB fell and injured their heads. Three of them presented with local haematoma. One patient had a 6 cm cut on his head without any neurological deficit and his cranial computed tomography imaging was normal. Hypotension and conduction disorders resolved with atropine treatment, resulting in complete recovery within 24 hours.

Keywords: honey poisoning; grayanotoxin; complete heart block

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