Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2017 Apr;11(4):OD01-OD02.
doi: 10.7860/JCDR/2017/24286.9494. Epub 2017 Apr 1.

A Successfully Treated Case of Criminal Thallium Poisoning

Tetsuya Yumoto  1 , Kohei Tsukahara  1 , Hiromichi Naito  1 , Atsuyoshi Iida  1 , Atsunori Nakao  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

A Successfully Treated Case of Criminal Thallium Poisoning

Tetsuya Yumoto et al. J Clin Diagn Res. 2017 Apr.

Abstract

Thallium was once commonly used as a household rodent or ant killer, but many countries have banned such use due to unintentional or criminal poisonings of humans. A common initial clinical manifestation of thallium poisoning is gastrointestinal symptoms followed by delayed onset of neurological symptoms and alopecia. These clinical characteristics can provide important diagnostic clues regarding thallium poisoning. Here, we report a 23-year-old woman who was poisoned by a business colleague when she unknowingly drank tea containing the toxic substance several times. The patient was treated with multi-dose activated charcoal with airway protection and Prussian blue.

Keywords: Alopecia; Haemodialysis; Neuropathy; Prussian blue.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

[Table/Fig-1]:
[Table/Fig-1]:
Alopecia of the scalp.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Al Hammouri F, Darwazeh G, Said A, Ghosh RA. Acute thallium poisoning: series of ten cases. J Med Toxicol. 2011;7(4):306–11. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Misra UK, Kalita J, Yadav RK, Ranjan P. Thallium poisoning: emphasis on early diagnosis and response to haemodialysis. Postgrad Med J. 2003;79(928):103–05. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Saddique A, Peterson CD. Thallium poisoning: a review. Vet Hum Toxicol. 1983;25(1):16–22. - PubMed
    1. Mulkey JP, Oehme FW. A review of thallium toxicity. Vet Hum Toxicol. 1993;35(5):445–53. - PubMed
    1. Cavanagh JB. What have we learnt from Graham Frederick Young? Reflections on the mechanism of thallium neurotoxicity. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol. 1991;17(1):3–9. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources