Efficacy of hexafluorine for emergent decontamination of hydrofluoric acid eye and skin splashes.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Mark B Mycyk.
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Veterinarians commonly prescribe medications to treat a variety of companion animal clinical conditions. Many pet medications are pharmacologically the same product prescribed for human use. We report 2 cases in which pet medications were used for self poisoning. Obtaining a pet history may provide critical information in the assessment of a patient with a suspected overdose.
A 33-y-old male developed severe acidosis, renal failure, and profound neutrophilia after ingesting ethylene glycol. Workup for his neutrophilia excluded infectious and malignant causes. An elevated leukocyte alkaline phosphatase (LAP) level confirmed a leukemoid response, and the neutrophila resolved. Although several leukemoid reactions have been published due to therapeutic agents these reports are often incomplete or inaccurate; this is the first case of leukemoid response to a toxin. Leukemoid response is distinguishable from leukemia by the absence of clonally derived cells, although this is not easily apparent in extreme neutrophilia. Elevated LAP is useful in identifying leukemoid reaction from leukemia in cases of extreme neutrophila. If a patient develops extreme neutrophila in association with drug or toxin exposure, a leukemoid reaction should be considered and an LAP obtained.
Fomepizole (Antizol) was recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for treatment of methanol poisoning. By inhibiting the hepatic enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase, it presents formation of toxic metabolites with far fewer consequences than traditional ethanol therapy. It appears that fomepizole will become standard therapy for methanol intoxication as it is for ethylene glycol poisoning.
We sought to examine hospital compliance with poison center antidotal alcohol dehydrogenase inhibition recommendations in cases of ethylene glycol (EG) and methanol (ME) ingestion. A 2-year analysis of all potential EG and ME ingestion cases reported to a regional poison center was conducted. Excluded from analysis were exposures without an ingestion, without a confirmatory EG or ME serum assay, or without complete medical charting. During the study period, 579 EG or ME exposures were reported to the poison center: 133 cases met study eligibility as an ingestion. Of the 133 cases, 102 (77%) had complete data and were included in the analysis. Immediate alcohol dehydrogenase inhibition was recommended by the poison center in 79 of the 102 cases. Fomepizole was recommended in 61/79 (77%); ethanol was recommended as an alternative therapeutic choice in 32/61 (52%) of these cases if fomepizole was not immediately available. Ethanol alone was recommended in 18/79 (23%). Fomepizole was eventually administered in 39/61 (64%) cases where recommended. The mean time to antidote administration was 3 times longer in cases where a choice in antidote was given [57 min (95% confidence interval, 43-70) vs. 146 min (95% confidence interval, 93-200)]. Despite its ease of administration, fomepizole is used less frequently than recommended by poison center staff. Delays to antidote administration occurred more commonly in cases where the poison center gave a choice in antidotal therapy.