Document Detail


Suicide by ingestion of a CCA wood preservative.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  10903465     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Chromated-copper-arsenate (CCA) is a compound used worldwide for wood preservation. Occupational hazards from chronic exposure to CCA are well known, but acute ingestion of CCA wood preservative is very rare. We describe a case of suicide by ingestion of a CCA wood preservative. A 33-year-old man attempted suicide by ingesting an unknown liquid, later identified as a CCA wood preservative, 75 min before his arrival in the emergency department. He was in severe respiratory distress, drooling, tachycardic, and hypotensive. There was an orange color on the palms of both hands. Severe, green colored burns of the buccal mucosa were observed. He was intubated shortly after arrival. The larynx was edematous, but a 7-mm endotracheal tube was successfully introduced. Blood tests revealed partially compensated metabolic acidosis. The patient deteriorated rapidly; the systolic blood pressure dropped to 70 mmHg, and he passed bloody diarrhea. He developed multiple premature atrial contractions and supraventricular tachycardia, and later in the intensive care unit, refractory ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation. The patient was declared dead 212 h after his arrival. Unfortunately, postmortem blood levels of heavy metals and autopsy were not performed because of refusal by the family for religious reasons.
Authors:
E Hay; H Derazon; Y Eisenberg; B Natalia
Related Documents :
9240525 - Normal pediatric testis: comparison of power doppler and color doppler us in the detect...
9934925 - Cyanosis and congenital methemoglobinemia in a puppy.
10521115 - Perifollicular blood flow doppler indices, but not follicular po2, pco2, or ph, predict...
1869745 - A new method for noninvasive estimation of ventricular septal defect shunt flow by dopp...
9704475 - Requirements for the electronic crossmatch.
3937445 - A contribution to the pathogenesis of respiratory disturbances associated with subarach...
Publication Detail:
Type:  Case Reports; Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  The Journal of emergency medicine     Volume:  19     ISSN:  0736-4679     ISO Abbreviation:  J Emerg Med     Publication Date:  2000 Aug 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2000-09-20     Completed Date:  2000-09-20     Revised Date:  2004-11-17    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  8412174     Medline TA:  J Emerg Med     Country:  UNITED STATES    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  159-63     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, The Barzilai Medical Center, Ashkelon, Israel.
Export Citation:
APA/MLA Format     Download EndNote     Download BibTex
MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Adult
Arsenates / classification,  poisoning*
Chromium / classification,  poisoning*
Copper / classification,  poisoning*
Fatal Outcome
Humans
Male
Suicide*
Chemical
Reg. No./Substance:
0/Arsenates; 37337-13-6/chromated copper arsenate; 7440-47-3/Chromium; 7440-50-8/Copper

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


Previous Document:  Infant hypernatremia: a case report.
Next Document:  Detection of isopropyl alcohol in a patient with diabetic ketoacidosis.