ABSTRACT
Cocaine abuse is common among parturients with an incidence of 11.8 to 20%. Myocardial infarction is a rare and lethal event during pregnancy with an incidence of 1 in 10,000 pregnancies. We present the anaesthetic management of a parturient of 36 wk gestation who suffered a myocardial infarction nine hours before delivery which was temporally related to "crack" cocaine use. The patient's cardiovascular system became unstable following cocaine use, and she required mechanical ventilatory support and pharmacologic stabilization guided by invasive haemodynamic monitoring. This patient survived a non-Q wave myocardial infarction, but the prognosis of peripartum myocardial infarction remains poor with a mortality rate of 30-40% which is increased if the infarction occurs in the third trimester or postpartum period. The optimal mode and timing of delivery after myocardial infarction is unresolved. The association between cocaine use and myocardial infarction was first described in 1982, and cocaine remains unique among local anaesthetics in its ability to compromise the cardiovascular system through both sympathomimetic effects and vasoconstrictive effects on coronary arteries. Because of the prevalence of substance abuse, cocaine use should be considered in the differential diagnosis of sudden cardiovascular compromise in parturients.
Subject(s)
Anesthesia, Intravenous , Anesthesia, Obstetrical , Crack Cocaine , Myocardial Infarction/etiology , Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular/etiology , Substance-Related Disorders/complications , Adult , Female , Fentanyl , Humans , Labor, Induced , Midazolam , Pregnancy , Respiratory Insufficiency/etiology , Vecuronium BromideSubject(s)
Bed Occupancy , Pediatrics , Acute Disease , Child , Efficiency , England , Humans , Length of Stay , Patient Admission , Patients' Rooms/statistics & numerical dataABSTRACT
In an average summer over three thousand children are admitted to hospital in England and Wales because of laburnum poisoning. It is suggested that laburnum is not as dangerous as has been thought and that many of these admissions are unnecessary.
