A little boy’s heart stopped beating in Colorado some two years ago. Doctors said he suffered an inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis), but they couldn’t figure out what caused it.
Earlier this year, however, two doctors published a case study saying the 11-month-old’s heart condition was induced by a high concentration of THC, the active chemical of marijuana, in his body.
That doesn’t mean, however, that ingesting the drug doesn’t kill in more indirect ways.
Marijuana has been linked to a number of heart conditions, including myocardial infarction, tachycardia, and hypotension.
Now it seems myocarditis could be associated with marijuana too, say Dr. Thomas Nappe and Dr. Christopher Hoyte of the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center in Denver, Colorado.
The boy, who was not identified, was normally developed, well-fed, and had no medical history. He suddenly turned irritable and less active, and two days later woke up lethargic and went into a seizure.
He was rushed to a hospital with a central nervous system depression and cardiac arrest caused by myocarditis.
Toxicology reports revealed a high concentration of THC in the boy’s blood. The doctors learned there were marijuana products in the boy’s home, though they couldn’t uncover exactly how the boy was exposed to it.
Myocarditis can be caused by a number of infections, but the autopsy revealed none.
The doctors say myocarditis has been linked to marijuana use before, in at least three cases, but none of them resulted in death.
Some experts said the link between marijuana and myocarditis still isn’t strong enough to definitively say the drug caused the boy’s death, 9NEWS reported.
In some cases, myocarditis has an unknown cause, so it is possible the heart inflammation was caused by something doctors couldn’t test for.