Altered mental status due to pruno intoxication.

BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of alcohol intoxication might not be considered in patients coming from locations where access to alcohol is severely restricted or not permitted. OBJECTIVE: We present a case of alcohol intoxication in a patient presenting from a military prison. The patient ingested an alcoholic beverage made in his prison cell with produce stolen from the prison cafeteria. We also discuss potential complications of "prison-brewed" alcoholic beverages. CASE REPORT: A 22-year-old male presented to the emergency department after being found in his cell with a depressed level of consciousness and next to a mouthwash bottle filled with a foul-smelling liquid. Physical examination revealed a heart rate of 111 beats/min, a Glasgow Coma Scale score of 11, no signs of injury or track marks on the skin, and intermittent agitation alternating with somnolence. Laboratory evaluation was significant for a serum ethanol level of 279 mg/dL. After a period of observation, mental status returned to normal and the patient admitted to making "pruno." CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol intoxication might be unexpected or not considered in patients that should have no access to common sources of ethanol. Awareness of methods of novel fermentation, even in incarcerated individuals, can assist in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with altered mental status.

Herlyn Werner Wunderlich syndrome: an unusual presentation of acute vaginal pain.

BACKGROUND: Herlyn Werner Wunderlich Syndrome (HWWS) is a congenital abnormality of the Müllerian duct system resulting in uterovaginal duplication, obstructive hemivagina, and ipsilateral renal agenesis. It typically presents shortly after menarche with gradual onset of progressive pelvic pain. CASE REPORT: We report a case of a 19-year-old female who presented to the Emergency Department with sudden onset of severe vaginal pain that was determined to be due to hematocolpos; imaging confirmed the diagnosis of HWWS. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge abrupt onset of vaginal pain due to HWWS has not been reported previously. We present this case to increase awareness among emergency physicians of this rare and interesting entity.

Sudden cardiac death associated with methylone use.

The rise in popularity of "bath salts" as safe alternatives to MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine), methamphetamine, and other illicit substances has resulted in increased scrutiny of the contents and toxicology associated with these products. We report a case of sudden death related to the synthetic cathinone methylone (3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylcathinonmethylone) in a previously healthy 19-year-old man. Although several fatal case reports have been published involving methylone and other synthetic cathinones, this is the first reported case of sudden cardiac death associated with methylone use. Although lack of published data prevented a comparison of blood methylone concentrations between our case and existing reports, the amount of methylone we detected postmortem (0.07 mg/dL) is below those reported in MDMA-related fatalities. Our report suggests that methylone toxicity has been greatly underestimated by users of this synthetic cathinone.

Pediatric zolpidem ingestion demonstrating zero-order kinetics treated with flumazenil.

Zolpidem is a widely prescribed anti-insomnia agent. Although most pediatric zolpidem ingestions are benign, large ingestions can cause significant central nervous system (CNS) depression. Flumazenil has been reported to reverse the CNS effects of zolpidem. We describe a case of a large pediatric zolpidem ingestion resulting in profound CNS depression that responded to flumazenil administration. Serial zolpidem serum levels confirmed the ingestion. A 10-year-old boy with trisomy 21 presented to the emergency department 1 hour after he was found sedate with several zolpidem 5-mg tablets in his mouth. Seventeen tables (85 mg) were unaccounted for from a prescription bottle. He became unarousable approximately 2 hours after his ingestion. Flumazenil 0.2 mg intravenously was given with rapid return to his baseline mental status. He became resedate 1 hour later but was arousable. Sixteen hours after his presentation, he was asymptomatic. Serial zolpidem serum levels were obtained, showed an initial level of 310 ng/mL, and demonstrated zero-order kinetics. Zolpidem is an imidazopyridine, which binds to the benzodiazepine receptor. It is rapidly absorbed and has a short-half life. Unintentional pediatric ingestions of zolpidem are typically well tolerated. However, this case demonstrates that large ingestions may cause significant and prolonged CNS depression. Flumazenil, a benzodiazepine receptor antagonist, has been described to reverse the effects of zolpidem in adult ingestions. There are few published reports describing flumazenil use in pediatric ingestion patients. This case suggests that flumazenil may be an effective treatment for zolpidem-induced CNS depression in the pediatric patient.

Mass sociogenic illness initially reported as carbon monoxide poisoning.

BACKGROUND: Mass sociogenic illness (MSI) is a rare occurrence involving a constellation of physical signs and symptoms in a group of individuals that are exhibited subconsciously and have no corresponding organic etiology. OBJECTIVES: To describe an outbreak of MSI initially attributed to carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. CASE REPORTS: While attending a church service, one child fainted, followed by another. This led to multiple individuals reporting a constellation of symptoms. A total of 22 individuals presented to emergency departments (EDs) with neurologic, gastrointestinal, and respiratory complaints. The onset of symptoms followed evacuation in most of these patients. Prehospital personnel obtained carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) levels with a portable oximeter device, identifying levels up to 19% in 6 patients; 17 were taken to a tertiary hospital with a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, and the other 5 to a local ED. All other attendees were asymptomatic. Within the 15-min transport time, all patients were asymptomatic and had normal physical examinations. The mean age of patients was 13 years; 7 were male and 10 were female. Venous blood gas identified normal COHb levels in all patients. Pulse oximetry in the ED was normal. Another handheld oximeter device in the ED found normal COHb and methemoglobin levels. CONCLUSION: Varying complaints with onset after removal from the church suggest MSI. The hazardous materials team reproduced the scenario and no toxic gases were detected. Escalation of symptoms and an increased number of persons being affected along with increasing ambulance presence are common in MSI. We suspect that field oximeter readings were either aberrant from an inexperienced operator or were false-positive COHb readings. Clinicians should consider MSI after mass outbreaks of illness, particularly with rapid onset, rapid resolution of symptoms, and normal physical examinations and laboratory analyses. However, the diagnosis of MSI should be entertained only after potential toxicologic etiologies have been excluded.

Prolonged coma in a child due to hashish ingestion with quantitation of THC metabolites in urine.

BACKGROUND: Cannabinoid-containing substances are commonly abused worldwide. Significant toxicity from these substances is uncommon in adults but can result in significant symptoms in children; these symptoms are usually short-lived. OBJECTIVES: To report a case of prolonged mental status alteration of more than 2 days in a child who ingested hashish. CASE REPORT: A 14-month-old child presented comatose to a pediatric emergency department after ingestion of hashish; she did not regain consciousness for more than 48 h. Quantitative testing of the child's urine for a tetrahydrocannabinol metabolite revealed a markedly elevated level, the decline of which coincided with the child's clinical improvement. CONCLUSIONS: Significant ingestion of cannabinoid-containing substances is capable of causing prolonged symptoms (including coma) in children.

A Retrospective Review of Antipsychotic Medications Administered to Psychiatric Patients in a Tertiary Care Pediatric Emergency Department.

OBJECTIVES: An increasing number of pediatric patients with psychiatric chief complaints present to emergency departments (EDs) nationwide. Many of these patients require treatment with antipsychotic medications to treat agitation. We sought to examine the use of antipsychotic medications in pediatric patients presenting to a tertiary care pediatric ED. METHODS: We performed a retrospective electronic medical record review of patients presenting to a tertiary care pediatric hospital from January 2009 through February 2016 with a psychiatric chief complaint who received an antipsychotic medication in the ED. RESULTS: A total of 229 patients were identified, 54.1% of whom were male. Mean age was 14.4 ± 2.6 years. Commonly administered medications included olanzapine (51.1%), aripiprazole (26.6%), haloperidol (24.0%), and risperidone (11.8%). Eighty-seven patients (38.0%) were given at least 1 intravenous or intramuscular dose of antipsychotic medication. A total of 113 patients (49.3%) received only 1 antipsychotic medication, 65 (28.4%) received 2, 30 (13.1%) received 3, and 21 (9.2%) received 4 or more antipsychotics. Median length of stay (minutes) increased significantly with increasing number of medications administered (p < 0.001). Length of stay was significantly shorter in patients given only oral medications (675.6 minutes, IQR 418-1194) compared to those given at least one intramuscular or intravenous dose (951 minutes, IQR 454-1652) (p = 0.014). CONCLUSIONS: In this retrospective series, the majority of patients were treated with newer oral antipsychotics. Administration of multiple medications was associated with a significantly longer length of stay in the ED, as was parenteral administration of antipsychotics.

ACMT Position Statement: Alternative or Contingency Countermeasures for Acetylcholinesterase Inhibiting Agents.

First responders and health care providers must prepare to provide care for patients poisoned by acetylcholinesterase (AchE) inhibitor chemical warfare agents or pesticides. However, pre-deployed medical countermeasures (MCMs) may not be sufficient due to production and delivery interruption, rapid depletion of contents during a response, expiration of MCM components, or lack of local availability of approved MCMs. To augment supplies of community-based and forward-deployed nerve agent countermeasures, the American College of Medical Toxicology (ACMT) supports several strategies: (1) The use of expired atropine, diazepam, and pralidoxime auto-injectors and vials if non-expired drugs are unavailable; and (2) Investigation, development, and identification of alternative countermeasures-commonly stocked drugs that are not approved for nerve agent poisoning but are in the same therapeutic class as approved drugs.

Emergency department presentation of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis.

Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis is an acute demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system that usually occurs in children and young adults. We report the case of an 8-year-old girl who presented to the emergency department with acutely altered mental status. Standard workup including head computed tomography, lumbar puncture, and routine chemistries was unrevealing. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed findings consistent with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. Response to treatment with steroids was dramatic. Both the rapidity of onset and resolution of this patient's symptoms are unusual for the course of this disease.

Sticky situations: cyanoacrylate exposures reported to a poison control system.

INTRODUCTION: Cyanoacrylate (Super Glue®) exposures are commonly reported to poison control centers, but little has been published in the medical literature regarding these exposures. We sought to characterize cyanoacrylate exposures reported to a poison control system. METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of a poison system's database for all cases of single-substance human exposure to cyanoacrylate-containing products from 2005 to 2015. Data collected included age, gender, route of exposure, clinical effects, treatments recommended and medical outcome. RESULTS: There were a total of 893 patients, 505 (56.6%) of which were female. Patient ages ranged from 6 months to 88 years with a median of 11 years. The vast majority of exposures (n = 871, 97.5%) were unintentional, but a small number of exposures (n = 22, 2.5%) were due to intentional misuse (such as trying to stop a bleeding cut) or malicious intent (such as purposefully gluing a person's eyes shut as a prank). Routes of exposure included: ingestion, n = 337 (37.7%); ocular, n = 322 (36.1%); dermatologic, n = 285 (31.9%); inhalation, n = 16 (1.8%); nasal, n = 1 (0.1%); and otic, n = 1 (0.1%); some patients had multiple routes of exposure. Treatments recommended by the poison center included irrigation (n = 411), petroleum jelly (n = 143), mineral oil (n = 131), topical antibiotic ointment (n = 82), peanut butter (n = 6), acetone (n = 4) and WD-40® (n = 2). A total of 657 patients (73.6%) were managed on-site, while 236 (26.4%) were seen in a health care facility. Among all exposures, effects were classified as none (n = 287), minor (n = 529) and moderate (n = 77). No major effects or deaths were reported. CONCLUSIONS: In this case series, the majority of cases occurred in children and most exposures did not result in significant morbidity. Notably, there was wide variation in terms of recommended treatments; further study is needed to determine the optimal treatment method and to standardize poison center recommendations for treating patients with cyanoacrylate exposures.

Ondansetron Use in Pregnancy and Birth Defects: A Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the risk of birth defects in children born to women who used ondansetron early in pregnancy for nausea and vomiting of pregnancy or hyperemesis gravidarum. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, Scopus, Web of Science, Journals@Ovid Fulltext, ClinicalTrials.gov, and Google Scholar databases. METHODS OF STUDY SELECTION: Studies were included for review if they were written in English, included a comparison population of patients not exposed to ondansetron, and reported human data, original research, exposure to ondansetron during the first trimester, and structural birth defects as an outcome. TABULATION, INTEGRATION, AND RESULTS: A total of 423 records were identified. After accounting for duplicate records and including only relevant articles, a total of eight records met criteria for review. Data from the various studies were conflicting: whereas the three largest studies showed no increased risk of birth defects as a whole (36 malformations, 1,233 exposed compared with 141 malformations and 4,932 unexposed; 58/1,248 exposed compared with 31,357/895,770 unexposed; and 38/1,349 exposed compared with 43,620/1,500,085 unexposed; with odds ratios [ORs] of 1.12 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.69-1.82), 1.3 [95% CI 1.0-1.7], and 0.95 [95% CI 0.72-1.26], respectively), two of these studies demonstrated a slightly increased risk of cardiac defects specifically (OR 2.0 [95% CI 1.3-3.1] and 1.62 [95% CI 1.04-2.14]), a finding that was not replicated in other studies. The most consistent association (if any) appears to be a small increase in the incidence of cardiac abnormalities, the bulk of which are septal defects. CONCLUSION: The overall risk of birth defects associated with ondansetron exposure appears to be low. There may be a small increase in the incidence of cardiac abnormalities in ondansetron-exposed neonates. Therefore, ondansetron use for nausea and vomiting of pregnancy should be reserved for those women whose symptoms have not been adequately controlled by other methods.

Feasibility and Patient Acceptance of Emergency Department-Based Influenza Vaccination in a Military Medical Center.

Influenza vaccination rates in the United States remain low. Many emergency department (ED) patients may not routinely seek care elsewhere. In a survey of ED visitors, 36.8% of unvaccinated respondents were willing to consider influenza vaccination during their visit. Participants at high risk for influenza complications were more likely to have been previously vaccinated, but unvaccinated participants at high risk were not significantly more likely to consider ED-based vaccination compared with other participants. ED-based influenza vaccination may be an effective method to expand vaccine coverage.

Single Versus Multiple Hyperbaric Sessions for Carbon Monoxide Poisoning in a Murine Model.

Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) has been advocated for treatment of acute carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. There exists considerable debate as to whether HBO prevents delayed neurologic sequelae (DNS) due to CO poisoning. Additionally, existing data in the literature supporting HBO efficacy do not identify an optimal number of HBO treatments. We sought to determine in a mouse model whether there is a difference between one versus multiple HBO sessions for the prevention of DNS. Fifty mice were randomized into five groups of ten mice each: (1) control, receiving no CO exposure or treatment; (2) CO poisoned, receiving no treatment (CO group); (3) CO poisoned, receiving normobaric oxygen for 58 min following the end of exposure (CO + NBO group); (4) CO poisoned, followed by one session of HBO(CO + HBO1); and (5) CO poisoned, followed by three HBO treatment sessions, one every 6 h (CO + HBO3). Prior to poisoning, all animals were trained in step-down latency (SDL) and step-up latency (SUL) tasks. One week after exposure and treatment, all five groups were retested to evaluate the retention of this training. There was no difference detected among groups in SDL (p = 0.67 among all groups) when evaluated using a Kruskal-Wallis test. There was a significant difference among groups in SUL (p = 0.027 among all groups) when evaluated using a Kruskal-Wallis test. When individual groups were compared using a Wilcoxon signed-rank test with Bonferroni correction, there were no statistically significant differences in either SDL or SUL. There was no difference between groups treated with either one or three HBO sessions. One possibility to explain this might be that HBO sessions administered some time after a CO exposure may enhance the lipid peroxidation cascade and worsen neurologic outcomes; alternatively, HBO may simply impart no benefit when compared to NBO.

Crotalidae polyvalent immune Fab (ovine) antivenom is effective in the neutralization of South American viperidae venoms in a murine model.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Crotalidae polyvalent immune Fab (ovine) (CroFab; FabAV) is used in the treatment of symptomatic crotaline envenomations in North America. Unlike Antivenin (Crotalidae) Polyvalent, which is approved for treatment of crotaline envenomation in North and South America, FabAV is manufactured using only venoms from crotaline snakes native to the United States. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of FabAV in the neutralization of venom from 2 South American crotaline snakes: Crotalus durissus terrificus (tropical rattlesnake) and Bothrops atrox (fer-de-lance). METHODS: A randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled murine model of intraperitoneal venom injection was used. Venom potency was determined in preliminary median lethal dose (LD 50) dosing studies. Study animals were then divided into 7 groups: (1) C durissus terrificus venom (Sigma-Aldrich Co.)+FabAV, (2) C durissus terrificus venom (Sigma-Aldrich Co.)+0.9% normal saline solution, (3) C durissus terrificus venom (Biotoxins Inc.)+FabAV, (4) C durissus terrificus venom (Biotoxins Inc.)+normal saline solution, (5) B atrox venom+FabAV, (6) B atrox venom+normal saline solution, and (7) FabAV+normal saline solution. Twice the estimated LD 50 was the chosen venom dose, and the amount of FabAV injected was 10 times the amount needed for venom neutralization. Statistical analysis included Fisher's exact test and log-rank testing to compare survival rates and times. RESULTS: The venom LD 50 was found in preliminary studies to be 0.9 mg/kg and 1.35 mg/kg for the C durissus terrificus venom obtained from Sigma-Aldrich Co. and Biotoxins Inc., respectively. The LD 50 for B atrox venom was 5.0 mg/kg. All animals receiving venom only and saline solution died. Animals receiving FabAV together with either venom survived to the end of the 24-hour observation period ( P <.001). Comparison of survival times between groups demonstrated a significant difference in time to death between venom-only control groups and the FabAV+venom groups (P <.001). All animals in the FabAV+normal saline solution group survived to the conclusion of the study. CONCLUSION: FabAV, when premixed with venom, decreases lethality in a murine model of intraperitoneal venom injection of the South American pit vipers, C durissus terrificus and B atrox .