Huffing-Induced Cardiomyopathy: A Case Report

The intentional inhalation of fumes from gasoline or solvents for recreational purposes is commonly known as Huffing, Sniffing or Dusting (Anderson and Loomis in Am Fam Physician 68(5):869–874, 2003). Inhalant abuse is known to be “Cardio-toxic”, causing sudden death and chronic myocardial damage (Meadows and Verghese in South Med J 89(5):455–462, 1996; Anderson and Loomis in Am Fam Physician 68(5):869–874, 2003). We report a 20-year-old white man who presented with altered mental status following ingestion of multiple alprazolam and oxycodone tablets. He was found to have diffused ST-T changes on his EKG. Cardiac enzymes were found to be elevated—CK: 599 U/L, CK-MB: 16.8 ng/mL and Troponin: 0.78 ng/mL. A transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) revealed global left ventricular (LV) dysfunction with an ejection fraction (EF) of 10–15%. During hospitalization, the cardiac enzymes started trending downward and this was followed by spontaneous resolution of the LV dysfunction. The patient also admitted to inhaling “Dust-Off” spray 2–3 days prior to admission. Inhalant abuse can cause cardiomyopathy and should be considered a probable cause in patients presenting with cardiac dysfunction of unknown etiology, particularly in teenagers and young adults.