Cardiac arrest and stroke due to unsupervised use of herbal preparation

Abstract

Despite the widespread use of herbal preparations and ongoing studies on their therapeutic potential, there are no safety standards on their usage. We report a case of a 36-year-old male patient who presented with severe muscle weakness and generalized fatigue. He had no significant medical history. Initial laboratory investigations revealed hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia, and hypophosphatemia. His condition suddenly deteriorated, and he went into cardiac arrest. He was resuscitated in accordance with advanced life support guidelines. On recovery, he had left-sided weakness and dysarthria. He underwent head computed tomography, which revealed an acute infarct in the right middle cerebral artery territory. We determined that he had developed electrolyte deficiency as a result of a recent intake of a mixture of herbs consisting of khella, barley, and frankincense for kidney stones.