Cardiac depression on syringing the ear. A case report.

While syringing of the ear was being done to clean the ear canal, the heart stopped beating suddenly. This was presumed to be due to stimulation of the vagus nerve, which supplies both the external auditory meatus plus the tympanic membrane and the cardiac muscle. There were also other signs of cholingergic nerve stimulation. The patient recovered in less than a minute, after external cardiac massage.