Ventricular tachycardia after ingestion of ayurveda herbal antidiarrheal medication containing aconitum.

Ayurveda is an East Indian tradition involving the treatment of medical ailments through the use of herbal medications. A previously asymptomatic 62-year-old man with a history of hypertension and stable coronary artery disease developed paresthesias and fascicular and ventricular tachycardia after ingestion of an Ayurveda bowel regimen containing substrates from the Aconitum species, which is a known neurotoxin and cardiotoxin. Findings of electrophysiologic study and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging were within normal limits, pointing to the ingestion of Aconitum as the most likely source of his arrhythmia.