VENTRICULAR-FIBRILLATION IN A PATIENT WITH EXERCISE-INDUCED ANAPHYLAXIS, NORMAL CORONARY-ARTERIES, AND A POSITIVE ERGONOVINE TEST

Exercise-induced anaphylaxis (EIA) is a rare form of physical allergy. Although histamine release is a feature of EIA, and histamine provoca tion of coronary spasm has been described, serious cardiac arrhythmias in EIA have not been reported. Exercise-induced anaphylaxis was diagn osed in a survivor of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest due to ventricula r fibrillation after ECG signs of coronary spasm. Coronary artery dise ase was excluded. Ergonovine provocation induced coronary spasm in thi s patient. This is, to the authors' knowledge, the first description o f ventricular fibrillation in EIA, possibly due to coronary spasm.