Myocardinfarct bij een 16-jarige na inhalatie van butaangas

Background

Butane gas is inhaled by young people with the aim of getting ‘high’. This can cause coronary spasm with myocardial infarction and ventricular fibrillation as a result.

Case description

We report on a 16-year-old male who collapsed at home after sniffing butane. His father, together with a paramedical emergency team that had found ventricular fibrillation, started basic and advanced life support. ECG showed exaggerated ST-elevations and an echocardiography showed a hypokinetic anterior ventricular wall and ventricular septum. After treatment with dobutamine, nitroglycerine, acetylsalicylic acid and dalteparine, the ECG and left ventricular function improved. He was admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit where he was artificially ventilated for 4 days and treated for cardiogenic shock. In the following days his cardiovascular condition improved. Magnetic resonance imaging showed no ischaemic damage of the brain. At 6 weeks his general condition was not as before, but ECG and cardiac function had almost recovered.

Conclusion

Young people who experiment with inhalation of volatile substances generally do not know how dangerous this is. Provision of information about the possible consequences will have a preventive effect.

Conflict of interest: none declared. Financial support: none declared.