Fatal intentional poisoning cases admitted to the University Hospitals of Leuven, Belgium from 1993 to 1996

Abstract

Between January 1993 and July 1996, a total of 2827 intentional cases of poisoning were registered in the University Hospitals of Leuven, Belgium. Ten of these cases were fatal. This study was set up to evaluate the substances involved, the circumstances, the features and the characteristics of the patients who died due to intentional poisoning. The male to female ratio of these fatal cases was 9 : 1. The median age was 43 years. Two groups of substances were revealed to be associated with fatal outcome. The first group consisted of chemicals (seven lethal cases): cholinesterase inhibitors ( =3), methanol ( =2) and paraquat ( =2). The second group consisted of benzodiazepines (three lethal cases). In the cases of poisoning with chemicals, death was directly related to product toxicity and the severity of the poisoning, whilst with benzodiazepines, which are considered to be relatively safe drugs even when taken in overdose, there was a clear relationship between a fatal outcome and a delay between ingestion and medical support. Product toxicity, complications and a delay in medical support may be considered as predictors for the effectiveness and efficacy of treatment and may influence which medical treatments need to be administered.

Trend of fatal poisoning in Kanpur: a two year autopsy based study

“…Male victim 367 (63.1%) outnumbered female 215 (36.9%) as males lead a more stressful life than female due to family responsibilities. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] Maximum numbers of cases (32.2%) were in the age group 21-30 years due to the fact that at this period they are by nature more emotional, aggressive, intolerant and irrational. 14,15,19,21 Married outnumbered 413 (71%) single 142 (25%), because after marriage economic problem of family results in frequent quarrels and familial disharmony leading to increased stress.…”

“…14,15,19,21 Married outnumbered 413 (71%) single 142 (25%), because after marriage economic problem of family results in frequent quarrels and familial disharmony leading to increased stress. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Maximum numbers (27.6%) of victims were educated up to high school level. In our study maximum number of poisoning death have been reported in the month of June (14.4%) followed by March (13.5%).…”

Death due to Poisoning - a Medicolegal Study at Dhaka Medical College, Dhaka

“…Pesticides act as a common agent for suicidal purpose after trivial family problems and in developing countries kill around 3,00,000 people each year [2][3][4] . Suicidal death in industrialized countries are also caused by pesticide ingestion 5,6 . Poisoning cases can also occur accidentally and rarely as homicidal purpose.…”

Chymase is Activated in the Pulmonary Inflammation and Fibrosis Induced by Paraquat in Hamsters

“…Although PQ poisoning of humans is still reported in many countries (Bruyndonckx et al 2002;Hwang et al 2002;Hsu et al 2003;LugoVallin et al 2003), there are no effective antidotes and no measures to enhance the elimination of PQ from the body (Jaeger et al 1995). As described above, chymase may contribute both directly and indirectly to fibrotic changes.…”