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Case Reports
. 2020 Sep;10(3):167-169.
doi: 10.1016/j.afjem.2019.12.005. Epub 2020 Feb 5.

Colchicine overdose: A South African experience, a case report

Jenna Essame  1 , Saul Grossberg  1 , Adam Mahomed  2   3
Affiliations
Case Reports

Colchicine overdose: A South African experience, a case report

Jenna Essame et al. Afr J Emerg Med. 2020 Sep.

Abstract

Introduction: Colchicine overdose is uncommon but is associated with a high mortality rate. It has a narrow therapeutic index and has been described to have a 100% mortality with ingestion of >0.8 mg/kg (Finkelstein et al., 2010; Herran-Monge et al., 2013; Aghabiklooei et al., 2014; Erden et al., 2013).

Case report: This is a case report of a 19-year-old male who ingested 0.4 mg/kg of colchicine in a suicide attempt. He developed multiorgan dysfunction. He was managed supportively, and the dysfunction resolved.

Discussion: The clinical presentation and management should be familiar to all those who work in acute care in order to be able to identify and treat it timeously thus preventing morbidity and mortality. Treatment is largely supportive. To the best of our knowledge this is the first case of colchicine overdose described in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Keywords: Colchicine; Multi-organ failure; Overdose.

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Conflict of interest statement

Authors declared no conflict of interest.

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