Clinical case of colchicum poisoning

Introduction. Autumn colchicum or crocus is a popular plant among gardeners, characterized by early beautiful flowering, but few people know that it is poisonous. Acute colchicum poisoning is a dangerous urgent clinical situation with high mortality rates. By disrupting cell division, colchicum venom leads to multiple organ failure and death in just a few days. However, colchicum extract in small doses is often used in modern medicine to treat various diseases, due to its high antimitotic and moderate anti-inflammatory activity. The article describes the clinical observation of a patient admitted to the toxicology department after a suicide attempt using a crocus flower, containing the alkaloid colchicine. The results of laboratory and pathological studies are presented.

Clinical observation. A clinical case of acute crocus poisoning with the development of hemodynamic disorders, dyspeptic syndrome, respiratory failure, cytolysis syndrome, and oliguria is presented. Treatment was aimed at restoring organ functions and consisted of infusion, detoxification, and hemostatic therapy.

Limitations. To carry out this scientific work, a study was conducted within the framework of only one clinical case committed on the territory of the Udmurt Republic. In this case report, there was no comparison group or observation group. The described documents were provided by the Budgetary Health Institution of the Udmurt Republic “City Clinical Hospital no. 6” of the Ministry of Health of the Udmurt Republic and the Budgetary Health Institution of the Udmurt Republic “Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination of the Ministry of Health of the Udmurt Republic” by prior agreement.

Conclusion. Colchicum poisoning is a rare and extremely severe pathology, leading to multiple organ failure, agranulocytosis and death. Considering the rapid absorption in the gastrointestinal tract and the initial symptoms in the form of gastrointestinal lesion syndrome, early diagnosis in the absence of anamnesis is difficult, therefore, it is necessary to highlight the issues of diagnosing this poisoning, as well as the study and implementation of modern methods of treating colchicine poisoning.

Compliance with ethical standards. The study was performed in compliance with the ethical principles of conducting medical research with the participation of people as subjects of research in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration of the World Medical Association “Ethical Principles of conducting Scientific medical research with human participation” as amended in 2013 and the “Rules of Clinical Practice in the Russian Federation”, approved by Order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation No. 266 dated 06/19/2003.

Authors’ contributions. All co-authors made equal contributions to the research and preparation of the article for publication.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding. The study has no sponsorship.

Received: February 28, 2024 / Accepted: July 10, 2024 / Published: August 30, 2024