Acute lithium intoxication. Apropos of a case
Marque, N.; Mansencal, N.; Morisson-Castagnet, J.F.; Dubourg, O.
Archives des Maladies du Coeur et des Vaisseaux 97(3): 271-274
2004
ISSN/ISBN: 0003-9683 PMID: 15106753 Document Number: 570387
Lithium salts are used in psychiatry for the treatment of bipolar depression. An overdose is potentially serious, sometimes fatal, and the clinical signs are variable. The authors report the case of a 70 year old man. He had a recent history of a transient ischaemic attack and was admitted to the coronary care unit for bradycardia at 35-40 BPM and episodes of sino-atrial block with a clinical presentation suggestive of a stroke. The diagnosis of lithium intoxication was made accounting for the present hospital admission and for the previous neurological event which had been diagnosed as a transient ischaemic attack. The difficulty of diagnosis of this condition is discussed.