Ezequiel García-Ballestas, Centro de Investigaciones Biomédicas (CIB), Universidad de Cartagena, Cartagena de Indias; Consejo Latinoamericano de Neurointensivismo- CLaNi, Cartagena; Colombia
Sandra L. Angulo-Mariño, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad El Bosque, Bogotá, Colombia
Guillermo Olaya, Departamento de Medicina Interna, Universidad de Cartagena, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia
Camilo E. Palencia-Tejedor, Servicio de Medicina Interna, Clínica Medical Duarte. Universidad de Santander-Sede Cúcuta, Cúcuta, Colombia
Nicolás R. Rojas-Quintero, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Santander-Sede Cúcuta, Cúcuta, Colombia
Gabriel A. Quiñones-Ossa, Consejo Latinoamericano de Neurointensivismo- CLaNi, Cartagena, Colombia
Fernando Manzur, Centro de Investigaciones Biomédicas (CIB), Universidad de Cartagena, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia
Luis R. Moscote-Salazar, entro de Investigaciones Biomédicas (CIB), Universidad de Cartagena, Cartagena de Indias; Consejo Latinoamericano de Neurointensivismo- CLaNi, Cartagena; Colombia
Cocaine use at the national and international levels is currently a public health problem related to high mortality and morbidity rates. The increase in cocaine usage in the last decades in young adults has caused multiple medical problems related to its consumption. Although some alterations have been demonstrated in all systems of the organism, it is especially in the cardiovascular system where cocaine exerts its greatest effects which can be as serious as death. This drug may induce arrhythmias, coronary vasospasm, myocardial ischemia, acute myocardial infarction, and sudden death. In the following article, we made a descriptive review of the effects of cocaine on the different body systems while emphasizing the cardiovascular effects that are associated with higher mortality, so as to provide an updated and complete information of this phenomenon that affects a large part of the world’s population and above all, the young population.
Keywords: Cocaine. Cardiovascular diseases. Young adults.
