A case of lithium intoxication.
نویسندگان
چکیده
LITHIuM, the lightest metal, has an atomic weight of seven and closely resembles sodium chemically. The ion is toxic and there are no therapeutic uses for lithium salts. Good (1903) quoted investigations of nearly twenty years previously in animals, where intravenous lithium salts depressed the heart's action and caused a fall in blood pressure. The dose of lithium salts necessary to stop the heart was found to be much larger than the dose of potassium salts necessary to produce the same effect. In 1948, lithium chloride was marketed in the U.S.A. as a salt substitute (Radomski, Fuyat, Nelson and Smith, 1950). The kidney, even in severe heart failure, excretes lithium much more readily than sodium, and therefore lithium does not promote water retention and oedema formation. This fact, plus the similarity in taste between lithium and sodium chlorides led to the use of lithium as a salt substitute (Drill, 1958). However, a number of patients died after receiving lithium and it is no longer used for this purpose. Lithium salts have been used in the treatment of mania (Lancet, 1955; Rice, 1956) and Kiloh, (1961) considered that in psychiatric practice the toxic effects of lithium salts are slight. Talbott (1950) found that symptoms of toxicity only occurred with serum lithium concentrations above 1 mEq./l. He found in a series of fourteen normal persons who ingested 1.56 g. of lithium carbonate daily for 5-14 days that the highest lithium concentration in the serum was 1.1 mEq. /1. In six persons gastrointestinal irritability was noted; correlation was observed between this symptom and the serum lithium. Three subjects experienced drowsiness. The mechanism whereby lithium produces its toxic effects is not clear although the principal action appears to be on the kidney.
منابع مشابه
Preventing lithium intoxication. Guide for physicians.
OBJECTIVE To raise awareness of risk factors for, and symptoms of, lithium intoxication. QUALITY OF EVIDENCE The literature was searched via MEDLINE from January 1970 to December 1999 using the MeSH headings Lithium, Lithium Carbonate, Drug Toxicity, and Aging. Articles were selected based on clinical relevance and design. Most were case reports, case series, or reviews. MAIN MESSAGE A case...
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ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- Postgraduate medical journal
دوره 41 474 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 1965