Severe Colchicine Poisoning: A Case Report

Abstract

Background: Colchicine intoxication is uncommon but potentially life threatening because of the high toxicity of the drug. Colchicine binds to the intracellular protein tubulin, causing disturbed mitosis in all tissues followed by multi-organ failure. Case Presentation: We report a case of a 23-year-old woman admitted to emergency room 12 hours after a suicide attempt by ingestion of approximatively 40 mg of colchicine. Few hours after consumption, first symptoms were a hemodynamic shock and ARDS, leading to her death due to multi-organ failure. Conclusion: The colchicine intoxication has strong morbidity for doses higher than 0.5 mg/kg. The treatment is symptomatic. The immunotherapy using anti-colchicine allows improving critical form's prognosis.