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Correspondence| Volume 204, P55-56, February 01, 2016

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A survey of energy drink consumption among young patients presenting to the emergency department with the symptom of palpitations

  • Maureen Busuttil
    Correspondence
    Corresponding author at: Emergency Department, Lyell McEwin Health Service, Haydown Rd Elizabeth Vale, South Australia 5112, Australia.
    Affiliations
    Department of Emergency Medicine, Lyell McEwin Health Service, South Australia 5112, Australia
    Search for articles by this author
  • Scott Willoughby
    Affiliations
    Centre for Heart Rhythm Disorders, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Adelaide and Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia 5000, Australia
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Published:November 19, 2015DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2015.11.118
      Energy drinks have received much publicity worldwide due to concerns of adverse effects on health to consumers [
      • Hitt E.
      Energy drinks pose serious health risks for young people.
      ] The reporting of adverse effects (including cardiac symptoms) related to consumption has increased [
      • Gunja N.
      • Brown J.A.
      Energy drinks: health risks and toxicity.
      ] along with their popularity [
      • Conomos K.
      Neilsen Convenience Report 2010: [Internet].
      ].Concerns that these drinks may unmask a life threatening ventricular arrhythmia have been raised [
      • Gray B.
      • Das K.J.
      • Semsarian C.
      Consumption of energy drinks: a new provocation test for primary arrhythmogenic diseases?.
      ] due to reports of ventricular arrhythmias [
      • Rutledge M.
      • Witthed A.
      • Khouzan R.
      It took a Redbull to unmask Brugada syndrome.
      ] and death [
      • Avci S.
      • Sarikaya R.
      • Buyukcam F.
      Death of a young man after overuse of energy drink.
      ] while consuming energy drinks. Given the potential adverse effects of energy drink consumption we conducted a survey to determine the impact of these drinks on emergency department presentations in otherwise healthy young adults. See Table 1, Table 2.
      Table 1Baseline characteristics.
      Non consumer n = 18 Consumer n = 42
      Baseline characteristics (mean + SEM) Significance
      Age (years) 31.56 [6.5] 26.29 [6.8] p > 0.01
      Blood pressure (mm Hg)
       Systolic 132.17 [17.8] 127.15 [11.4] NS
       Diastolic 73.8 [1.4] 81.5 [3.3] p > 0.037
      Heart rate (beats per minute) 91.3 [24.4] 80 [29] NS
      Table 2Presenting symptoms and cardiac history.
      Non-consumer Consumer
      Presenting symptom (n = 60) n = 18 n = 42
       Palpitations 18 42
       Chest pain 4 13
       Shortness of breath 0 1
       Syncope 1 1
      ECG recording
       Normal sinus rhythm 7 26
       Sinus tachycardia 2 5
       Supraventricular tachycardia/atrial tachycardia 5 3
       Premature ventricular contractions 2 2
      Pre-existing cardiac disease
       Arrhythmia (atrial) 4 1
       Valvular heart disease 0 3
       Other 1
      Family history of cardiac disease
       Arrhythmia (atrial) 3 2
       Ischemic heart disease 7 6
       Other 2 3

      Keywords

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