Faculty Bibliography

Despite extensive educational and preventive efforts, fatality from poisoning is a growing public health concern. While strategies to reduce fatal unintentional poisoning in children have been largely successful, growing numbers of deaths from suicidality and substance abuse present unique challenges to the public health system. This paper explores three areas where new approaches hope to mitigate major causes of poison-related fatality. Included in this discussion are bystander naloxone for opioid overdose, a reconsideration of the optimal dose of N-acetylcysteine therapy and intravenous fat emulsion (lipid rescue) therapy for cardiovascular toxins. These innovative approaches are designed to challenge dogma and provide a stimulus for individualised clinical care

Poisoning is the second leading cause of injury-related fatality in the USA and the leading cause of cardiac arrest in victims under 40 years of age. The study objective was to define the electrocardiographic (ECG) predictors of adverse cardiovascular events (ACVE) complicating suspected acute poisoning (SAP). This was a case-control study in adults at three tertiary-care hospitals and one regional Poison Control Center. We compared 34 cases of SAP complicated by ACVE to 101 consecutive control patients with uncomplicated SAP. The initial ECG was analyzed for rhythm, intervals, QT dispersion, ischemia, and infarction. ECGs were interpreted by a cardiologist, blinded to study hypothesis and case data. Subjects were 48% male, with mean age 42 +/- 19 years. In addition to clinical suspicion of poisoning in 100% of patients, routine toxicology screens were positive in 77%, most commonly for benzodiazepines, opioids, and/or acetaminophen. Neither the ventricular rate, the QRS duration, nor the presence of infarction predicted the risk of ACVE. However, the rhythm, QTc, QT dispersion, and presence of ischemia correlated with the risk of ACVE. Independent predictors of ACVE based on multivariable logistic regression were prolonged QTc, any non-sinus rhythm, ventricular ectopy, and ischemia. Recursive partitioning analysis identified very low risk criteria (94.1% sensitivity, 96.2% NPV) and high risk criteria (95% specificity). Among patients with SAP, the presence of QTc prolongation, QT dispersion, ventricular ectopy, any non-sinus rhythm, and evidence of ischemia on the initial ECG are strongly associated with ACVE

PURPOSE: A case of barium sulfate injection into the superior vena cava during an upper gastrointestinal series (UGIS) in which the patient's central venous line (CVL) was mistaken for her gastrostomy tube is reported. SUMMARY: A 17-month-old girl was brought to the fluoroscopy suite to undergo a UGIS with barium sulfate contrast. Her medical history included premature birth and short-gut syndrome after a bowel resection for necrotizing enterocolitis and gastroschisis. She had been treated for multiple bouts of sepsis and was currently receiving antibiotic therapy at home via a CVL. She was admitted to the hospital for replacement of her CVL. In the hospital, the patient developed a diarrheal illness with projectile vomiting, prompting the UGIS. In the fluoroscopy suite, approximately 3 mL of barium sulfate was injected into the patient's CVL, which was misidentified as her gastrostomy tube. The error was recognized when the first video fluoroscopic image revealed barium in the patient's right atrium, and 10 mL of blood containing a thick, chalky, whitish-pink suspension was immediately aspirated from the CVL. Peripheral venous access was established, and the CVL was removed. The patient vomited three times and developed rigors 30 minutes later. That evening, she developed a fever, which was treated with acetaminophen and a course of broad-spectrum antibiotics. Subsequent radiographs of the patient's chest failed to show any residual barium, and no respiratory distress developed. The patient was discharged in stable condition four days later. CONCLUSION: A 17-month-old girl inadvertently received barium sulfate by i.v. injection through a CVL that was mistaken for the patient's gastrostomy tube

Carbon monoxide (CO) is the leading cause of poisoning death in the United States. Research has shown that proper use of a CO detector in the home can reduce morbidity and mortality related to unintentional CO exposure. The authors evaluated three CO education workshops that included distribution of free CO detectors for home use, and their intervention reached 133 participants. Pretest surveys and follow-up calls evaluated change in knowledge and behavior factors. Results showed that statistically significant increases were found on three out of five knowledge-based items and 91% of respondents (N = 80) reported installing CO detectors in their home. Follow-up calls provided an opportunity to clarify information and provide tailored information to participants

Widespread use of cocaine and its attendant toxicity has produced a wealth of benchwork studies and small animal investigations that evaluated the effects of cocaine on the cardiovascular system. Despite this wealth of knowledge, very little is known about the frequency or types of arrhythmias in patients with significant cocaine toxicity. The likely aetiologies; catecholamine excess, sodium channel blockade, potassium channel blockade, calcium channel effects, or ischaemia may act alone or in concert to produce a vast array of clinical findings that are modulated by hyperthermia, acidosis, hypoxia and electrolyte abnormalities. The initial paper in the series by Wood & Dargan providing the epidemiological framework of cocaine use and abuse is followed by a detailed review of the electrophysiological effects of cocaine by O'Leary & Hancox. This review is designed to complement the previous papers and focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of patients with cocaine-associated arrhythmias