title: [Chloral hydrate poisoning].
abstract: The intentional ingestion of 5 g of chloral hydrate by a 67-yr-old man resulted in cardiac arrhythmia including tachyarrhythmia and polymorphic ventricular extrasystoles. As the ingested agent was unknown at admission, the patient was treated among others with sodium lactate, a non validated therapy of arrhythmia caused by chloral hydrate overdose. The discontinuation of arrhythmia was in favour of a beneficial effect of this treatment which remains to be confirmed. This unusual therapy is the original point of this case report which allows to question the so-called innocuousness of chloral hydrate, to remind the conventional treatment of the arrhythmias caused by this agent, the place of beta-adrenergic blockers, as well as the therapeutic difficulties when the causative agent remains unknown.
authors.affiliation: Service d'Anesthésie-Réanimation, Centre Hospitalier, Pontivy.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fetu
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Carel
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fossier
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Motreff
mesh_terms: D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000188:drug therapy; D002697:Chloral Hydrate / Q000506:poisoning*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D006801:Humans; D007773:Lactates / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019344:Lactic Acid; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D007773:Lactates; D019344:Lactic Acid; D002697:Chloral Hydrate
vernacular_title: Intoxication à l'hydrate de chloral.