Caffeine intoxication successfully treated by hemoperfusion and hemodialysis

Intern Med. 2014;53(23):2745-7. doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.53.2882. Epub 2014 Dec 1.

Abstract

Caffeine is an easily available drug which is generally regarded as being safe. However, it can lead to a lethal outcome in severe cases of caffeine intoxication. We herein report a case of a 32-year-old man who ingested approximately 15.6 g of caffeine in a suicide attempt. He suffered from sustained ventricular tachycardia despite conservative treatment. Therefore, we performed a combined therapy of hemoperfusion and hemodialysis which resulted in rapid improvement of the patient's ventricular tachycardia as well as a reduction of the patient's plasma caffeine level. To the best of our knowledge, this combination has not been previously reported to treat caffeine intoxication.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Caffeine / poisoning*
  • Central Nervous System Stimulants / poisoning*
  • Hemoperfusion* / methods
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Renal Dialysis* / methods
  • Schizophrenia / complications*
  • Suicide, Attempted / psychology*
  • Tachycardia, Ventricular / chemically induced*
  • Tachycardia, Ventricular / therapy
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • Central Nervous System Stimulants
  • Caffeine