A previously healthy 3-year-old girl was admitted to our Emergency Department (ED)
in an unconscious state. The pediatric version of the Glasgow Coma Scale score was
6 on her first assessment. Her history revealed that she had eaten 8–12 pieces of
apricot seeds and about an hour later had vomited 7 times; then she developed lethargy
and loss of consciousness. Her history revealed that she chewed the apricot seeds
before swallowing. Her medical and family history otherwise were not significant.
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References
- Pediatric cyanide poisoning: causes, manifestations, management, and unmet needs.Pediatrics. 2006; 118: 2146-2158
- Siyanür Zehirlenmesi.Sted. 2003; 9 ([Turkish]): 350-353
- The cyanide content of laetrile preparations, apricot, peach and apple seeds.J Toxicol Clin Toxicol. 1984; 22: 341-347
- US Department of Health and Human Services. Toxicological profile for cyanide (update).Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Atlanta, GA1997
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: November 16, 2012
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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- Acute Cyanide Intoxication Due to Apricot Seeds: Is “Evidence” Countable?Journal of Emergency MedicineVol. 48Issue 1
- PreviewWe read the letter to the editor by Akıl et al. with great interest (1). However, we have serious doubts about assigning cyanide as the poisoning agent. This letter also has raised some concerns about the diagnostic, clinical, and therapeutic aspects of the case reported. The child did not exhibit the classic symptoms of cyanide poisoning, for example, high anion gap metabolic acidosis. In addition, the authors did not mention the child's lactate level, which can be used as a surrogate marker for cyanide intoxication when the blood cyanide level cannot be measured due to technical limitations (2).
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