Fatal brain oedema due to accidental water intoxication

This case report details pre and post-mortem observations on a patient who , after accidentally consuming a small quantity of household bleach, drank 15 litres of water as an antidote. Hyponatraemia caused by water intoxication, is responsible for neurological dysfunction, signs of which developed s...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMJ 1983-10, Vol.287 (6400), p.1181-1182
Main Authors: Anastassiades, E, Wilson, R, Stewart, J S, Perkin, G D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accidents, Home
Adult
Anesthesia. Intensive care medicine. Transfusions. Cell therapy and gene therapy
Biological and medical sciences
Brain edema
Brain Edema - etiology
Brain stem
Emergency and intensive care: injuries, diseases due to physical agents. Diving. Drowning. Disaster medicine
Emergency and intensive care: metabolism and nutrition disorders. Enteral and parenteral nutrition
Female
Humans
Intensive care medicine
Intracranial pressure
Medical sciences
Potassium
Short Reports
Sodium
Water intoxication
Water Intoxication - complications
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This case report details pre and post-mortem observations on a patient who , after accidentally consuming a small quantity of household bleach, drank 15 litres of water as an antidote. Hyponatraemia caused by water intoxication, is responsible for neurological dysfunction, signs of which developed so rapidly in this patient that therapeutic measures succeeded in reducing the catastrophic rise in intracranial pressure only after irreversible brain stem damage had occurred.
ISSN:0007-1447
0267-0623
0959-8138
1468-5833
DOI:10.1136/bmj.287.6400.1181-a