Challenge Of Managing The Cocktail Of Cardiac Arrhythmias Induced By Cocaine And Cannabis Poly-Drug Addiction: A Case Report.

Abstract

Consumers of illicit toxicants combine toxicants in order to potentiate and prolong the duration of the effects. This results in an increase in acute or chronic toxicity, in particular cardiac toxicity, associating a variety of arrhythmias ranging from benign sinus tachycardia to the most complex ventricular arrhythmias. Heart risks are higher when people are young. We report the case of a 48 year old male chronic user of illicit substances, including cocaine, cannabis, amphetamines as well as alcohol; and who presents a wide variety of ventricular arrhythmia and conduction disorders associated with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). We describe through a review of the literature the physiopathological mechanisms involved in the genesis of rhythmic disorders and myocardial damage secondary to toxicity; before considering the management challenge of arrhythmias induced by multiple drug addiction