It is not often that a CT will be able to give you a hint to a toxicologic diagnosis. The following are CT findings that are either suggestive and even sometimes almost diagnostic for a given to toxin:

1) Intraparenchymal or Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: sympathomimetics or mycotic anuerysm rupture secondary to IV drug abuse

2) Basal Ganglia bilateral focal necrosis: characteristic of carbon monoxide, cyanide, hydrogen sulfide and even methanol

3) Severe advanced atrophy out of proportion for age: alcoholism, toluene

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Background

• Patients who are intoxicated with, or emerging from, phencyclidine (PCP) highs present with acute agitation that can be challenging to treat

• Risks of physical restraints for combative patients include injury, hyperthermia, rhabdomyolysis, and increased agitation or excited delirium

• Haloperidol is an option for chemical restraint that is typically safe and rapid acting

• Some concerns related to haloperidol use in PCP-intoxicated patients include worsened PCP-induced hyperthermia, dystonic or anticholinergic reactions, lower seizure threshold, and hypotension

 Data

• A recent retrospective case series assessed the frequency of adverse effects from the combination of PCP and haloperidol

• Of 59 cases, only two patients experienced an adverse reaction, and neither could be conclusively linked to haloperidol administration

• This analysis had several major limitations including retrospective design for identifying adverse reactions, potential for false positive PCP screens, and possible haloperidol administration more than 24 hours after PCP intoxication

​Bottom Line

While haloperidol may be safe for agitated PCP-intoxicated patients, this paper adds nothing to refute or support its use. Benzodiazepines and calm environment are still first-line therapy.

It should be noted that no data exist showing poor outcomes in PCP-intoxicated patients administered haloperidol, which begs the question "Is there even an issue?" Dr. Leon Gussow, author of The Poison Review, provides a nice answer and summary of the article here.

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As everyone knows by now the New England Compounding Company has been implicated in contaminated steroid vials that were used for epidural injections. Patients that have pleocytosis on CSF after lumber puncture will be admitted and started on liposomal amphotericin B and IV voriconozaole. 

IV Voriconazole Adverse Effects:

Vivid visual hallucinations

Visual Disturbances - 30 min after administration: Blurry, photosensitivity

Hepatotoxitcity

Photoxicity - associated with increased risk of squamous cell CA of the skin

Many who work in urban EDs and have a patient population that has a high rate of methadone use have probably wondered - why don't I see many STEMIs in the ED?

One study has actually attempted to answer the question - is methadone cardioprotective? Comparing 98 decedents with known long-term methadone exposure and compared autopsy coronary artery findings to match controls without, there was significant decrease in incidence of severe CAD:

5/98 Methadone Patients post-mortem had severe CAD vs 16/97 match controls

Better than a baby ASA, who knew?

[I thank Dr. Hoffman for citing this article to me]

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Activated charcoal is most effective if given within 1 hour of overdose.

Prehospital administration of charcoal can be challenging, but may save significant time compared to waiting until arrival to the ED. The patient has to be transported by EMS, registered, seen by a provider, order for charocal placed...

Two studies evaluated the time difference between prehospital and hospital administration of GI decontamination.

• Study 1 found median time to activated charcoal in the ED was 82 minutes.
• Study 2 found mean time to activated charcoal by EMS was 5 minutes, compared to 51 if held until arrival to ED.

Bottom line: Don't underestimate the amount of time that goes by before you evaluate non-crashing patients upon arrival to the ED. If the story supports an overdose and the patient doesn't have contraindications for receiving charcoal, recommend it be given in the prehospital setting for greatest potential benefit.

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Ever have that alcholic who requires lorazapam doses that start to approach 10mg? 20mg? or even higher. The next step is usually a lorazepam infusion and then send them to the ICU. In the ICU,  the patient develops an unexplained anion gap lactic acidosis.

Check a Lactate - lorazepam has 80% propylene glycol (PG). PG is metabolized to lactate which can accumulate when a lorazepam infusion at an elevated dose is running constantly.  Hypotension, bradycardia and even other EKG changes have been reported. Simply discontinue the infusion and assess your acid-base status. 

Other IV meds that contain PG:

lorazepam - 80% PG

Phenytoin - 40% PG

Phenobarbital - 67.8%

Diazepam - 40% PG

• Is associated with chronic use of marijuana

• Patients typically present with severe, recurrent nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain, usually in the morning

• Temporary relief of symptoms is achieved by taking hot showers or baths

• Diagnostic work up is negative

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Just when you think buying organic protects you from chemicals and pesticide, along comes the studies detecting arsenic in rice products and specficially in organic foods with brown rice organic sweetener. An organic toddler milk formula reportedly had 6x EPA standards for safe drinking water limit.

The more toxic arsenic is the inorganic arsenic which can cause neuropathy but after chronic exposure can cause a classic arsenic keratosis - see attached pic. The inorganic is seen commonly in seafood and is more easily excreted by the body. Unfortunately, in the study referenced here, inorganic As was the predominant type.

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Attachments

• 1209202121_arsenickeratosis.jpg (129 Kb)

Carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen cyanide (HCN) are two of the main gases causing injury and death from smoke inhalation in fire victims. During the first phase of a fire, and prior to depletion of oxygen reserves and subsequent production of CO, formation of HCN from the thermal breakdown of nitrogen-containing materials may be the primary cause of lethal poisoning in an enclosed-space fire.

A recent, retrospective, observational study from Poland assessed the prevalence of toxic HCN exposure in victims of enclosed-space fires.

Important findings:

• Of the 285 patients who died, 169 (59%) had detectable cyanide blood levels. 82% also had elevated carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) levels.
• Of the 40 patients who survived, 20 (50%) had detectable cyanide blood levels. All 20 had elevated COHb levels.

Conclusion: The high prevalence of coincident HCN concentrations and COHb levels in victims of enclosed-space fires emphasises the need to suspect HCN as a co-toxin in all persons rescued from fire who show signs and symptoms of respiratory distress.

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• Exposure to organophosphates can lead to “intermediate syndrome.”

• It is a syndrome characterized by weakness of neck flexors and proximal limbs, cranial nerve palsies, and respiratory muscle weakness, which can lead to respiratory paralysis.

• It follows acute cholinergic syndrome and precedes a delayed neuropathy, thus it is an “intermediate syndrome,” typically developing 24-96 hours post exposure.

• The pathophysiology of IMS remains unclear.

• Serum cholinesterase levels and electrophysiological studies are helpful in confirming the diagnosis.

• With supportive therapy, including artificial ventilation, complete recovery occurs within 5-18 days.

I was reading the biography of Steve Jobs looking for incredible insights into leadership and innovation. I have realized that you basically have to be a genuis and it doesn't matter what you do. His favorite drug was LSD which he believed was necessary to improve creativity and innovation. His description of the hallucinations confirm that he was taking this drug.

We describe LSD hallucinations as a crossing of the senses or "synesthesias" - you hear the color blue, you see the smell of roses.

Steve Jobs describes a moment in a wheat field while on LSD and (paraphrasing from the biography) ..." the wheat was playing Bach beautifully"

If you have a patient describing this type of hallucination you can almost be guaranteed that they have taken LSD or some other tryptamine.

Patients that experience altered mental status (specifically lethargy) and are on valproic acid - check a serum ammonia level regardless if it is an overdose or just therapeutically on VPA.

If the ammonia is elevated in combination with the mental status change consider administration of L-carnitine either po or IV. It will lower the ammonia and improve the mental status  within hours.

High risk patients for hyperammonia who therapeutically take VPA are certain pediatric patients that experience malnutrition, have seizure disorder and are on multiple seizure medications.

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There is a growing recognition of patients who have a subtoxic acetaminophen level at the 4-hour mark, but then still go on to have a toxic level later.

This is concerning in that we usually can exclude the chance for toxicity if the 4-hour, post-ingestion level is < 150 mcg/mL following an acute ingestion (plotted on Rumack-Matthew nomogram).

It still is not clear exactly what subset of patients need to have a second level drawn, but a recurring theme seems to be ingestion of acetaminophen in combination with agents that slow GI motility, such as diphenhydramine or opioids. It may be worth ordering a second APAP level (possibly at 8 hours) in patients ingesting these prodcuts.

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CIWA-Ar (Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment of Alcohol Scale, Revised)

The use of a scoring system for the disposition of an ethanol withdrawal patient can be helpful. The CIWA-Ar Score can guide both treatment in the ED as well as admission versus discharge. Most studies have verified that a score of <8 can be treated outpatient; 8-15 requires treatment and >15 wil require admission/IV benzodiazepines.

N/V: 0-7 (None to Constant N/V)

Tremor: 0-7 (None to Severe even with arms not extended)

Sweats: 0-7 (None to Drenching Sweats)

Anxiety: 0-7 (None to panic attack/delirium)

Agitation: 0-7 (None to pacing/thrashing during interview)

Tactile Disturbance: 0-7 (Mild itching to Continuous Hallucinations)

Auditory Disturbances: 0-7 (None to Continuous Hallucinations)

Visual Disturbances: 0-7 (None to Continuous Hallucinations)

Headache: 1-7 (Miild to Extremely Severe)

Orientation: 0-4

Go to this website to see the actual tool and how it should be administered:

http://www.regionstrauma.org/blogs/ciwa.pdf

 Levamisole is a pharmaceutical with anthelminthic and immunomodulatory properties that was previously used in both animals and humans to treat inflammatory conditions and cancer.

It has been identified as a cocaine adulterant in the U.S. since 2003, with the DEA estimating that by 2009 up to 70% of cocaine seized contained levamisole.

Leukopenia, agranulocytosis, and vasculitis are well known complications of levamisole use.

One important complication to keep in mind is the possibility of multifocal inflammatory leukoencephalopathy (MIL). Although no formal case of leukoencephalopathy in the setting of cocaine use has yet been reported, various neurological side effects were described with levamisole therapy, the most concerning complication being MIL.

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No one treatment has demonstrated consistency of pain relief from jellyfish stings over all species; conversely, a treatment for one species may worsen an envenomation from another.

Deionized water, seawater, meat tenderizer, and urea treatment do not appear to produce any improvement in pain sensation.

Ammonia, acetic acid, and ethanol may cause an increased stinging sensation, and in most species vinegar may cause nematocyst discharge.

Application of topical lidocaine reduced the local sensation of pain (10% and 15% produced immediate pain relief), and hot water results in pain relief in the majority of patients tested.

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Though an uncommon event, Drug-Induced Autoimmune thrombocytopenia occurs in a variety of drugs. Having recently diagnosed a patient that was receiving the "double-dose" bactrim for an MRSA abscess, it is worth mentioning the other drugs that have been reported to do it. Platelet count can go down to lethal levels and result in death due to the coagulopathy. Treatment is effective with platelets and no contraindication like in TTP.

Drugs that have been reported to do it:

abciximab, acetaminophen, amiodarone, amphotericin B

Carbamazepine, danazol, diclofenac, digoxin

Methyldopa, procainamide

Rifampin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, vancomycin

Transplant patients are the norm now in the ED. Their drug lists are immense and are usually on some form of immunosuppression to prevent rejection of the transplanted organ. Two common medications are cyclosporine and tacrolimus. They share many adverse effects like hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity and hypertension. Here is the mechanism of action and some unique adverse effects to these powerful immunosuppressants (there are many more so be wary):

1) Cyclosporine - suppresses T-cell activation and growth. Unique toxicity - painful neuropathy of the fingertips and toes, cortical blindness

2) Tacrolimus - simiar to cyclosporine but actually hampers T-cell communication/signal transduction. Unique toxicity - can also cause cortical blindness but is also known to cause diabetes/hyperglycemiad

• Several macrolide antibiotics can cause QTc prolongation and dysrhythmias (e.g., erythromycin), but azithromycin is thought to have little cardiotoxicity.
• A cohort of patients taking azithromycin was compared to those taking no antibiotics, amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin, or levofloxacin.
• When compared to no antibiotics, amoxicillin, and ciprofloxacin, azithromycin was associated with a small but significant increased risk of cardiovascular death. Azithromycin was similar to levofloxacin.
• Important points:
  • Increased risk translates to 47 additional deaths per 1 million prescriptions.
  • Increased risk only occurs during the 5 day course and does not carry on after discontinuation.
  • Patients most likely to die were in the highest risk category based on preexisting cardiovascular diseases (245 deaths per 1 million prescriptions).
• Bottom line: Patients may start asking about this study finding when given a prescription for azithromycin. Although a small risk, it may be prudent to prescribe an alternative if patients have preexisting cardiovascular disease.

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It may not be necessary to give oral vitamin K to patients that are not bleeding that have INRs between 4.5 and 10.

Patients who were supratherapeutic on warfarin were randomized to vitamin K 1.25 mg (n=355) versus placebo (n=369).

In the 90 days after enrollment, 15.8% of patients allocated to vitamin K and 16.3% allocated to placebo had a bleeding event. Major bleeding events occurred in 9 patients in the vitamin K group and 4 in the placebo.

Thromboembolic events occurred in 1.1% of patients in the vitamin K group, compared to 0.8% of patients in the placebo group. An equal number of patients died in each group (n=7).

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