Unintentional Cocaine Exposure and Brugada Syndrome: A Case Report

Abstract

This case report describes a 16-month-old child with an accidental ingestion of cocaine. The clinical presentation, diagnostic reasoning, hospital course, and subsequent follow-up are discussed in this report. In 2018, there were 2.1 million human poison exposure calls to U.S. Poison Control Centers, with the highest incidence of calls for children aged 1-2 years. The substances with the largest number of deaths across all age groups included sedatives, sleeping medications, stimulants, street drugs, opioids, and alcohol. The child in this case report is a male who presented to the emergency department with altered mental status. When his urine drug screen resulted positive for cocaine, a social service consult was initiated, and the child was admitted to the intensive care unit for monitoring and supportive care. His electrocardiogram showed a Brugada rhythm. This case report highlights the incidence of accidental drug ingestions by children and a rare but potentially fatal cardiac arrhythmia.

Keywords: Brugada syndrome; Unintentional cocaine exposure; altered mental status; pediatric case report.