Pharmacobezoar-Related Fatalities: A Case Report and a Review of the Literature.
Journal
Therapeutic drug monitoring
ISSN: 1536-3694
Titre abrégé: Ther Drug Monit
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 7909660
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
08 Nov 2023
08 Nov 2023
Historique:
received:
03
07
2023
accepted:
15
08
2023
medline:
9
11
2023
pubmed:
9
11
2023
entrez:
9
11
2023
Statut:
aheadofprint
Résumé
Pharmacobezoars develop after an acute overdose or during routine drug administration. Here, the authors present a case of fatal multidrug overdose involving a 62-year-old woman. Her usual treatment included tramadol extended-release, citalopram, and mirtazapine. Furthermore, she self-medicated and misused her husband's medications. The autopsy revealed the presence of a voluminous medication bezoar in the stomach. No mechanical complication was noted. Toxicologic analyses were performed using gas chromatography with flame ionization detection, liquid chromatography with diode array detection, gas chromatography with mass spectrometry detection, and liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. Tramadol (34,000 mcg/L), O-desmethyltramadol (2200 mcg/L), propranolol (6000 mcg/L), bromazepam (2500 mcg/L), zopiclone (1200 mcg/L), and citalopram (700 mcg/L) were identified in femoral blood at toxic concentrations. Interestingly, the femoral blood and vitreous humor concentration ratio was approximately 0.7. Furthermore, an English exhaustive literature search was performed using several different electronic databases without any limiting period to identify published pharmacobezoar-related fatalities. Seventeen publications were identified reporting a total of 19 cases. Decedents' mean age was 47.6 years [0.8-79] and a clear female predominance emerged. Several drugs were involved in pharmacobezoar formation. Death was attributed to drug toxicity in 13 cases, and to mechanical complications and/or sepsis in 4 cases. A mixed cause of death was reported in 2 cases. Although rare, pharmacobezoars remain potentially lethal and raise challenges in therapeutic management.
Identifiants
pubmed: 37941108
doi: 10.1097/FTD.0000000000001150
pii: 00007691-990000000-00158
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2023 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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