Digitalis purpurea: ein Suizidversuch

Iten, Manuela; Studhalter, Michael; Lampert, Markus L.; Walter, Philipp; Paganoni, Reto

doi:10.1024/1661-8157/a002862

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…The main pharmaceutical ingredient is digitoxin, which has been implicated in other cases of self-harm reported in the literature. 4 , 6 – 10…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similar cases of large ingestions of digitoxin which were subsequently relatively well-tolerated have been described in young people who ingested foxglove leaves or extract. 4 , 7 , 10 , 16 This may be due to the acute nature of the exposure and good hepatic and renal function promoting both high protein-binding and elimination and absence of interacting concomitant medication. Furthermore, younger people are able to tolerate cardiac depression better than older people.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The main pharmaceutical ingredient is digitoxin, which has been implicated in other cases of self-harm reported in the literature. 4,[6][7][8][9][10] Signs of toxicity are the same as for other cardiac glycosides (such as digoxin) and include cardiac arrhythmia, gastrointestinal and central nervous symptoms. Manifestations of life-threatening or fatal toxicity include rapidly evolving and changing cardiac arrhythmias, for example progressive bradyarrhythmias, heart block and ventricular arrhythmias, and hyperkalemia.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A similar case from the same region in Switzerland was published in the medical literature a year previously. 4 We therefore reported this current case to the national drug authority (Swissmedic) who have a responsibility in safety monitoring, not only of licensed drugs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A case of intoxication with tea made from Digitalis purpurea

Lehmann¹,

Späni²,

Harings-Kaim

et al. 2021

gcsp

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We present the case of a 34-year-old woman with recurrent depressive disorder who ingested purple foxglove with suicidal intent. She bought a foxglove plant (Digitalis purpurea) over the internet and used all of its leaves to make a tea that she then drank over a period of a few hours. Seventeen hours later, she developed abdominal pain, emesis and bradycardia and was admitted via the emergency department to the intensive care unit for further treatment and monitoring. The plasma digoxin concentration measured 3.53 nmol/l (therapeutic reference range 0.77-1.50 nmol/l) 21 hours after ingestion of the tea. She remained heamodynamically and neurologically stable, was treated with antiemetics and simple analgesia and did not require digoxin-specific antibodies. Despite normal renal function, her plasma digoxin half-life was prolonged (estimated 76 h), reflecting the long half-life of the parent compound digitoxin which is the main cardiac glycoside in Digitalis purpurea. She was transferred to psychiatric care 48 h after admission. In this report, we compare this case to other similar cases, which to date have only been rarely reported in the literature.

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“…The main pharmaceutical ingredient is digitoxin, which has been implicated in other cases of self-harm reported in the literature. 4 , 6 – 10…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%