[Acute lithium intoxication. Apropos of a case]

Abstract

Lithium salts are used in psychiatry for the treatment of bipolar depression. An overdose is potentially serious, sometimes fatal, and the clinical signs are variable. The authors report the case of a 70 year old man. He had a recent history of a transient ischaemic attack and was admitted to the coronary care unit for bradycardia at 35-40 BPM and episodes of sino-atrial block with a clinical presentation suggestive of a stroke. The diagnosis of lithium intoxication was made accounting for the present hospital admission and for the previous neurological event which had been diagnosed as a transient ischaemic attack. The difficulty of diagnosis of this condition is discussed.