Abstract
Cases of severe iron toxicity have become increasingly rare; most cases are intentional ingestions by late adolescents and adults who present within 12 hours of ingestion. We present a case of an adolescent girl with metabolic acidosis, hypoglycemia, obtundation, and liver and renal failure of undifferentiated etiology who was eventually discovered to have overdosed on ferrous sulfate tablets 4 days before arrival. The diagnosis was made because the patient had an elevated transferrin concentration in the setting of a minimally elevated serum iron concentration and faint radio-opacities on abdominal plain film imaging. This case presents many diagnostic challenges and treatment dilemmas and is a rare report of survival in delayed presentation of severe toxicity.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | E269-E271 |
Journal | Pediatric emergency care |
Volume | 37 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2021 |
Keywords
- adolescent
- chelation
- hemodialysis
- iron poisoning
- overdose
- plasma exchange
- suicide attempt
- transplant
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health
- Emergency Medicine