Cardiac arrest after acute hyperphosphatemia.
Symptoms of hyperphosphatemia usually relate to the associated hypocalcemia. In a 33-year-old patient accidental infusion of a bolus of potassium phosphate (5 ml intravenously) was immediately followed by cardiac arrest. During CPR, clinically important hypocalcemia or hyperkalemia was not detected, but serum phosphorus was significantly increased. Because acute phosphate load can precipitate life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, familiarity with doses and rate of infusion of phosphate is extremely important.