Tod nach gabe von 1250mg chloroquin bei porphyria cutanea tarda
✍ Scribed by Drasch, G. ;Eisenmenger, W.
- Publisher
- Springer-Verlag
- Year
- 1986
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 615 KB
- Volume
- 97
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1437-1596
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✦ Synopsis
Death Caused by a Dose of 1250 mg Chloroquine Given for Porphyria Cutanea Tarda
Summary. The death of a 23-year-old female patient is reported. She was being treated for porphyria cutanea tarda (p.c.t.) and was mistakenly given a single dose of 1250mg chloroquine (instead of the intended dose of 125 rag). The course differed from the typical course of chloroquine toxification, which involves cardiac arrhythmias as the main complication (reported in adults only after much higher doses); in spite of intensive care, this patient died 13 days after the ingestion of chloroquine, in a coma caused by irreversible, acute decompensation of the liver. Forensic autopsy and histological and toxicological investigations confirmed the clinical findings. Starting from the chloroquine's pharmacological mechanism of effect in p.c.t., the severe hepatotoxic effect of this drug in the present case is explained. The authors give a serious warning against exceeding the dose of chloroquine now usually recommended for the treatment of the p.c.t., which is 125-250 mg twice weekly. The presence of chronic porphyria hepatica, at least in its clinically manifest form,(= p.c.t.), should be considered a contraindication for chloroquine in prophylaxis and treatment of other illnesses (e.g. malaria and rheumatism).