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Acute toxic herbal intake in a suicide attempt and fatal refractory ventricular arrhythmia
Antoine Strzelecki1, Nicolas Pichon, Jean M Gaulier
1Department of Anaesthesiology, Dupuytren Teaching Hospital, Limoges, France.
Abstract:
This report involves a 54-year-old man who died following refractory ventricular fibrillation after ingestion of a plant in a suicide attempt. Repeated direct-current cardioversions were unsuccessful and no single anti-arrhythmic agent was effective for arrhythmia control. The routine blood toxicological screening was negative. Aconitine, the main toxin of Aconitum napellus was identified using a specific liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method. The whole blood concentration (24 microg/l) was higher than those reported in other aconitine-related deaths. The patient had found information about the life-threatening nature of such a toxic herb intake on a free medical encyclopedia online.
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