Scombroid poisoning secondary to tuna ingestion: a case report

Abstract

Scombroid poisoning is caused by the consumption of certain types of fish (from the Scombridae family), especially tuna. Due to inadequate refrigeration procedures, these fish have high levels of histamine which generate symptoms similar to those of a food allergy in their consumers, so it is frequently underdiagnosed. It is self-limited in a few hours and the symptoms are usually not serious, except for specific cases reported in the literature of hypotension, bronchospasm, respiratory distress, tachyarrhythmias, and even acute myocardial infarction. We report here the case of a woman admitted to the emergency department of a third level hospital in Medellín a few minutes after eating tuna with the typical symptoms of intoxication, as well as tachyarrhythmias, a serious and atypical manifestation.