TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2017//
TI  - On an engaged case of cardiac arrhythmia following duloxetine intoxication
JO  - Romanian journal of legal medicine
A1  - Buccelli, C.
A1  - Vacchiano, G.
A1  - Niola, M.
A1  - Graziano, V.
A1  - Basilicata, P.
A1  - Silvestre, A.
A1  - Pieri, M.
SP  - 60
EP  - 64
VL  - 25
IS  - 1
N2  - Background. At present, few studies have reported on acute or lethal intoxication after duloxetine ingestion; in almost all cases, the drug has been associated with other substances. <br><br>OBJECTIVE. The present paper reports the case of a 65-year-old man suffering from a psychiatric disorder, who is under treatment with Cymbalta ®. Despite no history of suicide attempts, his wife found him unresponsive in his bedroom near to an empty drug box. <br><br>RESULTS. Toxicological analyses performed on post-mortem specimens revealed the presence of duloxetine at concentrations of 3.6, 7.3 and 63.4 μg/mL in his blood, bile and gastric content, respectively, and of 1.3 and 0.5 μg/g in his liver and brain. The cause of death was ascribed to cardiac arrhythmia following duloxetine intoxication. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS. Obtained data suggest possible cardiac arrhythmia related to DLX intoxication, and confirm the wide variability of toxic/lethal duloxetine concentrations reported in the literature, as well as the hypothesis of a non-linear elimination kinetics after massive drug intake. © 2017 Romanian Society of Legal Medicine.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1221-8618
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.4323/rjlm.2017.60
ID  - ref1
ER  -