Di Rocco et al. Journal of Medical Case Reports 2011, 5:18 http://www.jmedicalcasereports.com/content/5/1/18 and contributed to the introduction and discussion. PM was heavily involved in caring for the patients, selecting them for the case report and editing the manuscript; MBH and TAB were both directly involved in the care of the patients, helped select them for this case report series, and remained supportive of the manuscript and its editing. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Received: 17 November 2009 Accepted: 19 January 2011 Published: 19 January 2011 References 1. Nanthakumar K, Lau YR, Plumb VJ: Electrophysiological findings in adolescents with atrial fibrillation who have structurally normal hearts. Circulation 2004, 110:117-123. 2. Dubin A: Cardiac Arrhythmias: Nelson’s Textbook of Pediatrics.Edited by: Kliegman et al. Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier; , 18 2007:1942-1947. 3. Frost L, Vestergaard P: Caffeine and risk of atrial fibrillation or flutter: the Danish diet, cancer, and health study. Am J Clin Nutr 2005, 81:578-582. 4. Rashid A, Hines M, Scherlag BJ, Yamanashi WS, Lovallo W: The effects of caffeine on the inducibility of atrial fibrillation. J Electrocardiol 2006, 39:421-425. 5. Mehta A, Jain AC, Mehta MC, Billie M: Caffeine and cardiac arrhythmias: an experimental study in dogs with review of literature. Acta Cardiol 1997, 52:273-283. 6. Patanè S, Marte F, La Rosa FC, Rocca RL: Atrial fibrillation associated with chocolate intake abuse and chronic salbutamol inhalation abuse. Int J Cardiol 2009, E pub. 7. Peake STC, Mehta PA, Dubrey SW: Atrial fibrillation-related cardiomyopathy: a case report. J Med Case Rep 2007, 1:111. 8. Temple JL: Caffeine use in children: what we know, what we have left to learn, and why we should worry. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2009, 33:793-806. 9. Magkos F, Kavouras S: Caffeine use in sports, pharmacokinetics in man, and cellular mechanisms of action. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutri 2005, 45:535-562. 10. Kaplan GB, Greenblatt DJ, Ehrenberg BL, Goddard JE, Cotreau MM, Harmatz JS, Shader RI: Dose-dependent pharmacokinetics and psychomotor effects of caffeine in humans. J Clin Pharm 1997, 37:693-703. 11. FDA Basics: “Why isn’t the amount of caffeine a product contains required on a food label?”. U.S. Food and Drug and Administration; [http://www.fda.gov]. 12. Malinauskas BM, Aeby VG, Overton RF, Carpenter-Aeby T, Barber-Heidal K: A survey of energy drink consumption patterns among college students. J Nutr 2007, 6:35. 13. O’Dea J: Consumption of nutritional supplements among adolescents: usage and perceived benefits. Health Ed Res 2003, 18:98-107. 14. McCusker RR, Goldberger BA, Cone EJ: Caffeine content of energy drinks, carbonated sodas, and other beverages. J Analyt Toxicol 2006, 30:112-114. 15. The Caffeine Database. [http://www.energyfiend.com/the-caffeine- database]. 16. Reissig CJ, Strain EC, Griffiths RR: Caffeinated energy drinks: a growing problem. Drug Alcohol Dep 2009, 99:1-10. 17. Berger AJ, Alford K: Cardiac arrest in a young man following excess consumption of caffeinated “energy drinks”. Med J Aust 2009, 190:41-43. doi:10.1186/1752-1947-5-18 Cite this article as: Di Rocco et al.: Atrial fibrillation in healthy adolescents after highly caffeinated beverage consumption: two case reports. Journal of Medical Case Reports 2011 5:18. Page 6 of 6 Submit your next manuscript to BioMed Central and take full advantage of: • Convenient online submission • Thorough peer review • No space constraints or color ﬁgure charges • Immediate publication on acceptance • Inclusion in PubMed, CAS, Scopus and Google Scholar • Research which is freely available for redistribution Submit your manuscript at www.biomedcentral.com/submit