Monday, October 1, 2012

Socrates

A patient is brought into the emergency department with tonic-clonic seizures. A friend says, "We found some wild vegetables...we thought it was parsley or turnip or carrots or something." She brings in the plant shown above. "He ate a little," she says, "and before he started seizing, he had nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Then he started acting a little confused. When I touched him, he was drenched in sweat." Vital signs show bradycardia and hypotension. Despite initial antiepileptic therapy, he remains in status epilepticus; these seizures are fairly intractable.

Challenge: What is this poisonous plant which acts by GABA antagonism?

Image is in the public domain.

2 comments:

  1. that's right...hemlock or water hemlock
    -
    Socrates

    This is water hemlock which contains cicutoxin.

    Sources: UpToDate; Wikipedia.

    ReplyDelete

Comments on this blog are moderated so they will not show up until after the solution to the case is posted.

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.