A Case of Lithium Intoxication with Acute Kidney Injury / 대한정신약물학회지

ABSTRACT

We report a case of 48 years-old male bipolar disorder patient with acute kidney injury due to severe lithium intoxication. He was taking lithium 300 mg per day but suddenly ingested all 30 tablets of lithium 300 mg (total 9,000 mg) at one sitting to commit suicide. On his arrival at the emergency room, the serum lithium concentration was 12.47 mEq/L. Thereafter he was treated with hemodialysis four times for 4-4.5 hour per session and recovered without any prominent sequela. The serum lithium level checked 9 days after hemodialysis was 0.1 mEq/L. Therefore we suggest that clinicians should consider such a strategy as mandatory hemodialysis in a patient with severe kidney intoxication when serum lithium concentrations are very high or rapidly increasing.