Case of Cardiac Arrest Treated with Extra-Corporeal Life Support after MDMA Intoxication

Case Rep Crit Care. 2019 Mar 7:2019:7825915. doi: 10.1155/2019/7825915. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Objective: To describe the case of a patient who developed a serotonin syndrome due to a 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine ingestion with electrical storm and refractory cardiac arrest.

Design: Case report.

Study selection: ICU of a university hospital.

Patient: A 22-year-old man transferred to the emergency room with hyperthermia, tremors, and mydriasis presented a cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation.

Interventions: We implemented extra-corporeal life support combined with vasoactive drugs. Later, he also benefited from renal replacement therapy and mechanical ventilation.

Measurements and main results: We were able to rapidly regulate our patient's temperature and we weaned all hemodynamic support in the first week of hospitalisation.

Conclusion: Extracorporeal life support has several advantages as part of the management of hemodynamic instability induced by serotonin syndrome.

Publication types

  • Case Reports