Fatality due to massive overdose of sodium valproate

A 40-year-old woman admitted after a massive overdose of sodium valproate was found to have a serum valproate level of 18,900 mumol/1 which is the highest ever reported. She underwent cardio-respiratory failure, bone marrow suppression and neurological depression, subsequently dying. On post-mortem there was haemorrhagic pancreatitis but no histological evidence of hepatotoxicity. Valproate levels measured in various post-portem tissues and fluids indicated a high level in bile (21,375 mumol/1) suggesting that enteral administration of activated charcoal might be of some benefit by decreasing enterohepatic circulation of the drug.