Scombroid poisoning secondary to tuna ingestion: a case report

María Carolina González, Andrea Carolina Díaz, Jairo Giovanni Moncayo, Jorge Alonso Marín, .

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7705/biomedica.5283
Keywords: Foodborne diseases, tuna, histamine, arrhythmias, cardiac
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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.

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  • María Carolina González Servicio de Urgencias, Hospital Mental de Antioquia, Bello, Colombia
  • Andrea Carolina Díaz Servicio de Urgencias, Clínica SOMA, Medellín, Colombia
  • Jairo Giovanni Moncayo Departamento de Medicina de Urgencias, Universidad CES, Medellín, Colombia; Servicio de Urgencias, Clínica CES, Medellín, Colombia
  • Jorge Alonso Marín Servicio de Toxicología Clínica, Clínica SOMA, Medellín, Colombia; Servicio de Toxicología Clínica, Hospital Marco Fidel Suárez, Bello, Colombia; Facultad de Medicina, Corporación Universitaria Remington, Medellín, Colombia; Grupo Infettare, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, Medellín, Colombia

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How to Cite
1.
González MC, Díaz AC, Moncayo JG, Marín JA. Scombroid poisoning secondary to tuna ingestion: a case report. biomedica [Internet]. 2020 Dec. 2 [cited 2024 May 18];40(4):594-8. Available from: https://revistabiomedica.org/index.php/biomedica/article/view/5283
Published
2020-12-02
Issue
Vol. 40 No. 4 (2020)
Section
Case presentation

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