[Iron intoxication--poisoning with easily accessible medicines]

A 20-year-old woman was found semiconscious on the floor in a pool of black diarrhea with an empty 100 jar of ferrous sulphate beside her (100 mg Fe2+/tablet), 160 mg/kg. She was brought to the hospital an estimated 4 hours after ingestion and presented with irritability and a fluctuating CNS depression. Her blood pressure was 190/85 mmHg and pulse 130 bpm. An arterial blood gas analysis showed pH 7.17, pCO2 5.4 kPa, pO2 16.7 kPa and BE –14 mmol/l. Deferoxamine was started immediately with a dose of 15 mg/kg/h intravenously. The patient was intubated in the ICU and whole bowel irrigation was performed. Due to technical problems with the venous blood sampling, a correct measurement of the serum iron concentration (s-Fe2) was not at hand until 15 hours post ingestion and showed 131 µmol/l. At that point her condition deteriorated with circulatory instability, hepatic failure, coagulopathy and renal insufficiency. Despite full treatment including continuous renal replacement therapy she died after 4 Days.