Cardiac toxicity a common complication of snakebite: JAPI study
Kerala, India: Snake bite, both vasculotoxic and neurotoxic, are associated with cardiac toxicity and not with increase in mortality, suggests a recent study in the Journal of the Association of Physicians of India. Also, the incidence of cardiac toxicity was found to be more frequent than previously thought.
Cardiac toxicity following snakebite has been reported previously but not studies in detail, especially the involvement in neurotoxic bites. The study by Sunil Kumar K, Department of Internal Medicine, Little Flower Hospital and Research Centre, Angamaly, Kerala, and colleagues evaluated the incidence of cardiac toxicity along with the difference between vasculotoxic and neurotoxic bites and analyzing the predictors for development of cardiotoxicity.
This prospective observational study was conducted from August 2015 to March 2017 at a tertiary referral hospital in Southern India which treats around 18 to 20 snakebite patients per month, of which 80-90% are due to vasculotoxic snakes. 96 patients who had snake bite envenomation were evaluated for features of cardiotoxicity with clinical features, ECG, echocardiogram and troponin-I levels.
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