Near fatal acute colchicine intoxication in a child. A case report.
Eur J Pediatr 2000 Dec;159(12):895-7.
Goldbart A, Press J, Sofer S, Kapelushnik J.
Paediatric Department B, Soroka University Medical Centre, Ben-Gurion University
of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
An 8-year-old child with familial Mediterranean fever exhibited signs of
colchicine intoxication while receiving prophylactic doses of the drug. She
developed gastrointestinal, central nervous system, cardiovascular and
haematological disturbances. Over 2 months she had been drinking high doses of
natural grapefruit juice which, combined with long-term colchicine therapy and a
viral upper respiratory tract infection, increased her susceptibility to the
drug. CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time
colchicine intoxication in this age group has been described in the English
literature.