Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Fatal bromethalin poisoning.

Melissa A Pasquale-Styles1, Mark A Sochaski, David C Dorman

  • 1Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, 520 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA. pasqualemd@hotmail.com

Journal of Forensic Sciences
|October 5, 2006
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Fatal Potassium Thiocyanate Poisoning Presenting With Falsely Elevated Chloride Concentration.

The American journal of forensic medicine and pathology·2025
Same author

Associations Between Community Social Vulnerability or Socioeconomic Deprivation and Respiratory Virus Infection in Decedents in a Large, Urban Medical Examiner's Office.

Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities·2025
Same author

Hazard classification of manganese salts based on animal neurotoxicity data: case study for specific target organ toxicity - repeated exposure (STOT-RE).

Journal of toxicology and environmental health. Part B, Critical reviews·2025
Same author

Metabolic and morphometric analysis of allometric and total liver growth in Post-Hatch chickens.

Metabolomics : Official journal of the Metabolomic Society·2025
Same author

Potential postmortem microbial biomarkers of infant and younger children death investigation.

Journal of forensic sciences·2024
Same author

A Systematic Review of the Efficacy of Compression Wraps as an Anxiolytic in Domesticated Dogs.

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI·2024

Bromethalin, a neurotoxic rodenticide, caused fatal poisoning in a young man after ingestion. The case highlights severe neurological effects, including cerebral edema and white matter vacuolization, mirroring animal poisoning symptoms.

Area of Science:

  • Toxicology
  • Neuroscience
  • Pathology

Background:

  • Bromethalin is a widely used neurotoxic rodenticide.
  • Human poisoning cases from bromethalin are rare, making this case significant.

Observation:

  • A 21-year-old male presented with altered mental status after ingesting bromethalin.
  • The patient developed obtundation, increased cerebrospinal fluid pressure, and cerebral edema.
  • Autopsy revealed diffuse white matter vacuolization in the central nervous system.

Findings:

  • The patient died 7 days post-ingestion of an estimated 17 mg of bromethalin.
  • Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry confirmed a demethylated bromethalin metabolite in the liver and brain.
  • Clinical signs and neuropathological lesions were consistent with animal bromethalin toxicosis.

Related Experiment Videos

Implications:

  • This case confirms bromethalin's potential to cause fatal human poisoning.
  • It underscores the importance of recognizing bromethalin toxicity in clinical settings.
  • Findings reinforce the need for careful handling and storage of rodenticides.