[Suicide by intravenous injection of sublimate solution]

Abstract

A 19-year-old drug-dependent man tried to commit suicide by intravenous self-injection of 5 ml concentrated mercury II chloride solution. He arrived at an intensive-care unit 2 h later with predominantly gastrointestinal symptoms and died 70 h later, despite hemodialysis and antidote therapy. The pathologic-anatomical picture was dominated by severe acute sublimate nephrosis and a coagulation disorder. The highest Hg content was found in the kidneys (5.69 mg%); in the gastrointestinal tract the Hg concentration lay between 1.12 and 3.26 mg%.