Colchicine poisoning: report of a fatal case with body fluid analysis by GC/MS and histopathologic examination of postmortem tissues.
A suicide caused by oral ingestion of colchicine is reported. Postmortem examination revealed circulating Pelger-Huet polymorphonuclear leukocytes and numerous mitotic and chromatin bodies in tissues with rapid cell turnover. Colchicine was identified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) of an organic extract of a urine specimen obtained about 36 h after the patient's original hospitalization. The clinical history and pathology of this rarely encountered intoxication are correlated with previous reports, and the rapid detection of colchicine by GC/MS is discussed.
Department of Pathology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104.
C V
CV
Clevenger
T F
TF
August
L M
LM
Shaw
D000328:Adult; D001826:Body Fluids / Q000737:chemistry; D003078:Colchicine / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000506:poisoning* / Q000652:urine; D003643:Death; D005260:Female; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006801:Humans; D014018:Tissue Distribution
D003078:Colchicine