Methemoglobinemia Due to Riluzole

To the Editor: We report a case of intentional riluzole poisoning in a patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. A 43-year-old woman with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis had been treated with riluzole for two years, during which she had lost 8 kg in weight. She was able to walk with support, she cou...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	The New England journal of medicine Vol. 343; no. 9; pp. 665 - 666
Main Authors:	Viallon, A, Page, Y, Bertrand, J C
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States Massachusetts Medical Society 31-08-2000
Subjects:	Adult Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - drug therapy Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - psychology Drug Overdose Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists - poisoning Female Humans Methemoglobinemia - chemically induced Riluzole - poisoning
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Summary:	To the Editor: We report a case of intentional riluzole poisoning in a patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. A 43-year-old woman with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis had been treated with riluzole for two years, during which she had lost 8 kg in weight. She was able to walk with support, she could feed herself and had rare difficulty swallowing, and she had mild dysarthria. Her forced vital capacity was 47 percent of the predicted value, and she was depressed. She was hospitalized six hours after deliberately ingesting 2.8 g of riluzole. On admission, physical examination revealed dyspnea, a pulse rate of . . .
ISSN:	0028-4793 1533-4406
DOI:	10.1056/NEJM200008313430918