Ergotamine-induced venous thrombosis.

but levels of up to 6 mg%0 have been recorded (Lous, 1954). Undoubtedly, acute barbiturate toxicity is associated with the development of neurological signs, such as depressed tendon reflexes and extensor plantar responses (Carroll, 1969) but it is of interest that both patients showed these changes without gross respiratory or cardiovascular depression. Following recovery from coma, both patients admitted taking an overdose of drugs and both were found to be psychiatrically disturbed, much to the surprise and chagrin of their parents who, at the time of admission, had unwittingly misled the attendant medical staff. Acute barbiturate poisoning should therefore be considered in any epileptic patient presenting with atypical coma, even when there is no evidence of possible overdose or of psychiatric instability. Acknowledgments I am grateful to Dr E. W. J. Gumpert for his encouragement and to Dr Gumpert and Dr J. Carson for allowing me to report details of their patients.