[Severe digitalis poisoning after the ingestion of 1 g of digoxin]

A 50-year-old, previously healthy, woman swallowed 1 g digoxin powder, dissolved in water, with suicidal intent. On admission to hospital one hour later, having vomited three times at home, the prominent signs were somnolence and hypersalivation. Serum digoxin level was 3.37 ng/ml. There followed repeated episodes of asystole alternating with ventricular fibrillation requiring cardiopulmonary resuscitation over 90 min and adrenaline administration. Repeated electrical defibrillation, administration of dopamine, phenytoin and lidocaine, as well as transitory transvenous electrical stimulation became necessary. Anti-digoxin antibody fragments were administered, initially 80 mg, to a total of 3,280 mg over 24 hours. After 3 days of intensive care and a further 21 days in hospital she was discharged and referred to psychiatric treatment. This case demonstrates that even severe digoxin poisoning can be successfully treated without sequelae by the appropriate administration of digoxin antidote. The main problems in this case were regulation of the dosage and acquiring the necessary amount of antidote which greatly exceeded the hospital's own depot.