Friday November 20, 1998 - Question 14

Case

A 42 year-old female comes into to the ED following an ingestion of twelve 300mg lithium tablets at 8 am this morning, it is now 2 pm.  She has a history of bipolar disorder and has been on lithium for 3 years.  Her levels have been steady in the past at 1.0mEq/L and her level is now 1.6 mEq/L

The physician would like the following information:

• Differences between presentation of acute and chronic toxicity.

• The therapeutic role of sodium polystyrene sulfonate

• Indications for hemodialysis

Response