Cerebra Thevetia poisoning: A prospective study at a tertiary care hospital, Kerala

Yellow oleander or cerebra Thevetia poisoning is commonly encountered from southern parts of India unlike the northern parts. Because of its beautiful flowers, people plant yellow oleander tree in their garden & compound as a hobby without knowing its poisonous action. This prospective study was carried out in the Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Karuna Institute of Medical Sciences & Hospital, Palakkad, Kerala for a period of 2 year from January 2015 to February 2017. 25 cases which presented with yellow oleander consumption to emergency ward were enrolled in this study. A detailed history of patient demographic profile, number of seeds consumed, time of consumption, time of presentation to hospital, any form of treatment given before presenting to hospital, detailed clinical assessment of the patient and routine blood investigations were done and a 12 lead electrocardiogram was recorded. Patients were monitored for electrolyte imbalance every 6th hourly and a continuous cardiac monitoring was done to recognize cardiac arrhythmias and ECG was recorded at the admission and every 2nd hourly for 48 hours. Out of 25 cases studied, 9 cases (36%) did not show any ECG abnormality. Remaining 16 cases 64% showed ECG abnormalities. Various ECG abnormalities noted amongst the patients were sinus bradycardia (< 40>