The Toxicology Investigators Consortium Case Registry-the 2010 experience

Abstract

Introduction: The American College of Medical Toxicology Case Registry was established in 2010 as a method of identifying cases cared for by medical toxicologists at participating institutions. The Registry allows for the extraction of information from medical records making it the most robust multicenter database on chemical toxicities in existence. The current report is a summary of the data collected in 2010.

Methods: All cases seen by medical toxicologists at participating institutions were entered on a database. Information characterizing patients entered in 2010 was tabulated.

Results: Over the course of 2010, the number of institutions contributing cases grew from 4 to 50. Three thousand nine hundred forty-eight cases were entered. Emergency departments were the most common source of consultations, accounting for approximately 50% of the cases. The most common reason for consultations was for pharmaceutical overdoses, which occurred in 42% of the patients. The most common classes of agents were non-opioid analgesics (14%), sedative/hypnotics/muscle relaxants (10%), ethanol (8%), and opioids (8%). N-acetylcysteine was the most common antidote used, followed by opioid antagonists, sodium bicarbonate, and physostigmine. Anti-crotalidae Fab fragments were administered in 72% of the cases in which an antivenin was used. Signals were detected suggesting the possibility that amlodipine and metoprolol were associated with greater toxicity than had been previously recognized.

Conclusions: The Registry can identify and characterize patients who have sufficient toxicity to require a consultation by a medical toxicologist. Hypotheses for further investigation emerged from the data. The Registry appears to be a potentially powerful tool for toxicovigilance and research.