Suicide attempt with acetonitrile ingestion in a nursing mother

Abstract

Context: Acetonitrile (ACN) is a solvent rapidly absorbed through lungs and intestinal tract, and is slowly metabolized to cyanide (CN) by enzymatic processes mediated by CYP2E1.

Objective: To describe the clinical and laboratory evolution, ACN elimination half-life, and its presence in breast milk in a nursing mother who attempted suicide.

Case details: A 25-year-old 2-month nursing mother ingested an estimated dose of 2.1 g/kg of ACN. Blood and urine samples were collected 24 h later for ACN, CN and thiocyanate analysis, and 12.5 g sodium thiosulfate i.v. in 1-h infusion was started and repeated every 24 h for 4 days. ACN results showed 200 mg/L in blood and 235 mg/L in urine. ACN analysis in the breast milk at Day 6 showed level of 21 mg/L compared to 27 mg/L in blood collected at the same time, suggesting a possible relationship of 1.3:1.0 ratio. An elimination half-life of 40.4 h was calculated, compared to 32 and 36 h showed in other studies.

Discussion: The clinical management must involve the use of CN antidotes for more than 24 h depending on the symptoms and blood levels of ACN. Furthermore, our data showed the possible existence of a close relationship between plasma and breast milk levels.

Keywords:

• Acetonitrile
• suicide attempt
• cyanide
• acute intoxication
• antidote

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.