Pediatric extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation for yew cardiotoxicity

English yew is an evergreen conifer frequently planted in household gardens and, when ingested in large doses, results in severe cardiotoxicity characterized by difficult to control ventricular arrhythmias with high rates of mortality.

A previously healthy teenage female presented as an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest with refractory ventricular arrhythmias and severe biventricular dysfunction. Due to rapid deterioration in her clinical status, she was cannulated onto venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) which resulted in rapid normalization of her rhythm and ventricular function.

Our case highlights the importance of keeping a broad differential diagnosis when considering etiologies of ventricular arrhythmias in the pediatric population. The final diagnosis was not made until after discharge and implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) placement.

The delayed diagnosis of this intentional English yew ingestion ultimately resulted subsequent ICD removal. Early ECMO activation in cases of English yew toxicity can be essential for patient survival.