Ventricular Fibrillation and Tachycardia after Intravenous Atropine for Treatment of Bradycardias

SLOWING of heart rate to 60 or fewer beats per minute not only may reduce the cardiac output but also may lead to ventricular irritability.^{1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9} Both these complications are particularly undesirable in patients under treatment in intensive-coronary-care units. Consequently, under such circumstances it has become customary to accelerate the heart rate by the intravenous administration of atropine.^{4 5 6,8 9 10} The appearance of ventricular fibrillation in two patients and short bursts of repetitive ventricular firing in a third patient after intravenous administration of atropine in the space of three months indicates that the use of this drug may not be completely without risk.