Sting to the heart – Acute pulmonary edema following hymenoptera sting

Abstract

Hymenoptera stings have been reported earlier to cause mild local reactions to severe systemic reactions such as anaphylactic shock. Myocardial infarction following insect stings has been widely described. In this case, we describe a 64-year-old male patient who presented with pulmonary edema 4 h after the initial insult followed by a new onset myocardial infarction which was considered to be a variant of Kounis syndrome. The patient was managed in intensive care with diuretics, positive pressure ventilation, and glucocorticoids and made a complete recovery.

Keywords

• Acute coronary syndrome
• hymenoptera sting
• Kounis syndrome
• pulmonary edema