jofclinical neuroscience 2018
This journal case report (J Clin Neurosci) examines cardiac arrhythmias, including a case of cardiac arrest, temporally associated with ketamine infusion used to treat refractory status epilepticus (RSE). The authors performed a retrospective chart review of nine patients treated with ketamine for RSE between October 2010 and July 2015; two patients had cardiac events. One detailed case is a 72-year-old woman with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) who developed atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular response, bradycardia and recurrent brief asystole after initiation of ketamine (0.07 mg/kg/h); arrhythmias ceased after ketamine discontinuation and anti-arrhythmic therapy. The report cautions use of ketamine for RSE in patients with SAH due to possible increased risk of life-threatening arrhythmias.
Questions this document answers
Nine patients.
Two patients.
0.07 mg/kg/h.
72 years old; aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH).
Three episodes of brief asystole, each lasting approximately one minute.