Cardiac Toxicity in Patients with Antidepressant Intoxication

PURPOSE: Although cardiac toxicity is a key parameter of significant toxicity, in antidepressant intoxication, there are few studies on the cardiac toxicity of serotonin reuptake inhibitor and the intoxication with the new generation of antidepressants. The aim of this study is to investigate the relative cardiac toxicity of serotonin reuptake inhibitor and intoxication with the new generation of antidepressants as compared with that of tricyclic antidepressant intoxication. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 109 antidepressant intoxicated patients who visited the Emergency Department from January, 2005 to December, 2009 to collect and analyze the demographic and clinical data. Sixteen patients were excluded. The enrolled seventy eight patients were classified into three groups: the tricyclic antidepressant group (TCA) (n=32), the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor subgroup (SSRI) (n=28) and the new generation antidepressant subgroup (NGA) (n=18). RESULTS: The demographic and clinical data of the SSRI and NGA groups were not significantly different from that of the TCA group. The QRS duration of the SSRI subgroup (86.4+/-12.0 msec) and the NGA subgroup (91.8+/-11.9 msec) was not significantly different from that of the TCA group (90.0+/-13.5msec) (p=0.598). CONCLUSION: Intoxication with SSRI and the new generation antidepressants seemed to show significant cardiac toxicity, like what is seen in tricyclic antidepressant intoxication. Clinicians must pay attention to SSRI and new generation antidepressant intoxication.

Laparoscopic Splenectomy in a Case of Stable Blunt Abdominal Trauma

Splenic rupture is a frequent surgical emergency in blunt abdominal trauma patients. There are several treatment options, including conservative treatment, a partial splenectomy, splenorrhaphy, and a splenectomy for splenic injury. Although reports on the safety and the efficacy of an elective laparoscopic splenectomy are abundant in the literature, a laparoscopic splenectomy for a ruptured spleen has only been reported in a few cases. We report a case of a laparoscopic splenectomy in the patient with Grade III traumatic splenic injury. To our knowledge, this is the first report in which a laparoscopic splenectomy was performed in Korea for the treatment of a traumatic splenic injury.

Evaluation of the Risk Factors for Aspiration Pneumonitis Following Drug Intoxication

PURPOSE: It is known that aspiration pneumonitis is associated with high mortality and morbidity following overdose. However, until now, few domestic studies on this subject have been conducted. The main aim of this study is to investigate the risk factors associated with aspiration pneumonitis in intubated patients following overdose. METHODS: Among 654 adult overdosed patients who visited our institution from Jan. 2006 to June 2008, we enrolled 70 intubated patients within 24 hours after their overdose, and we reviewed the medical records to collect the data. This data was processed by univariate analysis, followed by multiple logistic regression analysis. P values <0.05 were deemed statistically significant. RESULTS: In our study, a high incidence of pneumonitis was seen in the patients with an older age, a lower GCS and a high poisoning severity score or a high comorbidity score (p<0.05). Compared with the non-pneumonitis group, the pneumonitis group had a higher incidence of intubation (6% vs 61.8%, respectively, p<0.05). The main cause of intubation was a decreased mentality (68.6%). Older age, a high comorbidity score, irrigation without airway protection, relative hypoxemia and hyperkalemia were the risk factors of aspiration pneumonitis in the intubated overdosed patients (p<0.05). Among these factors, age, a high potassium level and airway protection might be significant predictors of aspiration penumonitis (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Older age, a high potassium level and irrigation without proper airway protection may be the significant factors that can predict aspiration pneumonitis in patients who are intubated within 24 hours after overdose, although the further investigations on this are needed.