Cargando…

Inconceivable Hypokalemia: A Case Report of Acute Severe Barium Chloride Poisoning

Barium is a heavy divalent alkaline earth metal that has been known as a muscle poison. Barium can cause human toxicity, which may lead to significant hypokalemia and have serious consequences. This paper reports a case of unprecedented barium intoxication in which the patient, who suffered from dep...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Tao, Haibo, Man, Yanru, Shi, Xiaoyuan, Zhu, Jun, Pan, Hang, Qin, Qin, Liu, Shanrong
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Hindawi Publishing Corporation 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5093257/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27840643
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/2743134
_version_ 1782464881092460544
author Tao, Haibo
Man, Yanru
Shi, Xiaoyuan
Zhu, Jun
Pan, Hang
Qin, Qin
Liu, Shanrong
author_facet Tao, Haibo
Man, Yanru
Shi, Xiaoyuan
Zhu, Jun
Pan, Hang
Qin, Qin
Liu, Shanrong
author_sort Tao, Haibo
collection PubMed
description Barium is a heavy divalent alkaline earth metal that has been known as a muscle poison. Barium can cause human toxicity, which may lead to significant hypokalemia and have serious consequences. This paper reports a case of unprecedented barium intoxication in which the patient, who suffered from depression, swallowed at least 3.0 g barium chloride to commit suicide. On admission, the patient presented with nausea, vomiting, stomach burning feeling, dizziness, and weakness. Emergency biochemical testing showed that the patient was suffering from severe hypokalemia (K(+) 1.7 mmol/L). His electrocardiogram (ECG) prompted atrioventricular blocking, ventricular tachycardia, prolongation of PR interval, ST segment depression with U waves, and T wave inversion. Intravenous potassium supplements were given immediately to correct hypokalemia and regular monitoring of vital signs and fluid balance was arranged. After all-out rescue of our hospital personnel, the condition of the patient is currently stable and he is gradually recovering. This case exemplifies the weaknesses of the management of toxic substances and the lack of mental health education for young people. We hope to get more attention for the supervision of toxic substances and the healthy development of young people.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-5093257
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2016
publisher Hindawi Publishing Corporation
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-50932572016-11-13 Inconceivable Hypokalemia: A Case Report of Acute Severe Barium Chloride Poisoning Tao, Haibo Man, Yanru Shi, Xiaoyuan Zhu, Jun Pan, Hang Qin, Qin Liu, Shanrong Case Rep Med Case Report Barium is a heavy divalent alkaline earth metal that has been known as a muscle poison. Barium can cause human toxicity, which may lead to significant hypokalemia and have serious consequences. This paper reports a case of unprecedented barium intoxication in which the patient, who suffered from depression, swallowed at least 3.0 g barium chloride to commit suicide. On admission, the patient presented with nausea, vomiting, stomach burning feeling, dizziness, and weakness. Emergency biochemical testing showed that the patient was suffering from severe hypokalemia (K(+) 1.7 mmol/L). His electrocardiogram (ECG) prompted atrioventricular blocking, ventricular tachycardia, prolongation of PR interval, ST segment depression with U waves, and T wave inversion. Intravenous potassium supplements were given immediately to correct hypokalemia and regular monitoring of vital signs and fluid balance was arranged. After all-out rescue of our hospital personnel, the condition of the patient is currently stable and he is gradually recovering. This case exemplifies the weaknesses of the management of toxic substances and the lack of mental health education for young people. We hope to get more attention for the supervision of toxic substances and the healthy development of young people. Hindawi Publishing Corporation 2016 2016-10-20 /pmc/articles/PMC5093257/ /pubmed/27840643 http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/2743134 Text en Copyright © 2016 Haibo Tao et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Case Report
Tao, Haibo
Man, Yanru
Shi, Xiaoyuan
Zhu, Jun
Pan, Hang
Qin, Qin
Liu, Shanrong
Inconceivable Hypokalemia: A Case Report of Acute Severe Barium Chloride Poisoning
title Inconceivable Hypokalemia: A Case Report of Acute Severe Barium Chloride Poisoning
title_full Inconceivable Hypokalemia: A Case Report of Acute Severe Barium Chloride Poisoning
title_fullStr Inconceivable Hypokalemia: A Case Report of Acute Severe Barium Chloride Poisoning
title_full_unstemmed Inconceivable Hypokalemia: A Case Report of Acute Severe Barium Chloride Poisoning
title_short Inconceivable Hypokalemia: A Case Report of Acute Severe Barium Chloride Poisoning
title_sort inconceivable hypokalemia: a case report of acute severe barium chloride poisoning
topic Case Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5093257/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27840643
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/2743134
work_keys_str_mv AT taohaibo inconceivablehypokalemiaacasereportofacuteseverebariumchloridepoisoning
AT manyanru inconceivablehypokalemiaacasereportofacuteseverebariumchloridepoisoning
AT shixiaoyuan inconceivablehypokalemiaacasereportofacuteseverebariumchloridepoisoning
AT zhujun inconceivablehypokalemiaacasereportofacuteseverebariumchloridepoisoning
AT panhang inconceivablehypokalemiaacasereportofacuteseverebariumchloridepoisoning
AT qinqin inconceivablehypokalemiaacasereportofacuteseverebariumchloridepoisoning
AT liushanrong inconceivablehypokalemiaacasereportofacuteseverebariumchloridepoisoning