We report a case of potential cardiovascular toxicity including
syncope,
bradycardia, and ECG pauses associated with the use of
rivastigmine and
atenolol. A 65-year-old African American female with a medical history of
dementia,
hypertension,
seizure disorder,
stroke, and
peripheral vascular disease was admitted to the hospital with
shortness of breath and
syncope. She was witnessed to have experienced a presyncopal episode followed by a true
syncopal episode in which she was unresponsive for 20-30 s. On day two of
hospital stay, the patient's ECG showed a sinus
bradycardia with a heart rate in the 40 s and sinus pauses greater than 2 s in duration.
Atenolol was immediately discontinued, with a continuance of the
bradycardia despite one missed dose. The potentially toxic combination of
rivastigmine and
atenolol was then identified as a plausible causative factor of this patient's
syncope and was subsequently discontinued. This patient's Naranjo adverse reaction probability score was five, which indicates a probable association between
syncope and
bradycardia with the combination of
rivastigmine and
atenolol [13]. Following the discontinuation of
rivastigmine, the ECG pauses resolved and the patient's heart rate returned to normal levels. The patient did not experience any further
dizziness or
syncope. A 65-year-old female developed
syncope and subsequent ECG pauses with sinus
bradycardia after being treated with
rivastigmine for
dementia.
Atenolol may have further compounded this toxic effect by its pharmacodynamic mechanisms.