The consumption of betel nuts causes a cholinergic effect and the nuts are widely consumed in Asia for their psychostimulative effect. Regardless, only few reports on intoxication exist. This case report describes a 27-year-old man who was found unconscious after consumption of a vast amount of betel nuts in conjunction with home-distilled alcohol. Although definite cardiac arrest was never confirmed, the patient woke up after several cycles of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Afterwards, he experienced blurry vision which was ascribed to cholinergic-induced accommodation paresis. The patient was later discharged with full remission.
Published under Open Access CC-BY-NC-BD 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.