THE STROKE THAT WASN’T- A CASE OF CLINICAL MIMICRY FROM WOLFSBANE TOXICITY

Historically infamous for its pernicious toxins - Aconitum also known as Wolfsbane, Devil’s Helmet and Monkshood is a common ingredient in Ayurveda where it is known as महाविषा mahavisha (“great poison”) or वत्सनाभ vatsanabha ("root resembling the navel of a child") and is used in small quantities after undergoing a lengthy process of detoxification. We present to you a case of Aconitum toxicity initially diagnosed at a primary care facility as a cerebrovascular accident and referred for tertiary centre care to our emergency department where the patient was promptly diagnosed, stabilized, treated and eventually discharged owing to a multidisciplinary collective effort by physicians belonging to the departments of Emergency Medicine, Critical Care Medicine & Cardiac Sciences.