Polyurethane foam pica in a patient with excessive interdialytic weight gain.

Maintaining fluid balance in haemodialysis patients is important because of the adverse effects of excessive interdialytic weight gain. This often requires fluid restriction that patients often struggle with. We report a case of a 31-year-old female diabetic patient on haemodialysis with repeated excessive interdialytic weight gains despite fluid restriction and dry weight adjustment. It was subsequently discovered that she devised an unusual, albeit unsuccessful, strategy of eating the polyurethane foam from her dialysis chair while increasing her fluid intake hoping that it would absorb excess water in the gut! This under-diagnosed phenomenon known as pica has been reported in renal patients with substances such as ice, clay and baking soda.

Successful outcome of accidental ethylene glycol poisoning despite delayed presentation.

A 69-year-old man presented to the emergency department after being found unconscious by his son. He had experienced headache the previous day but had been otherwise well. Investigations revealed a severe metabolic acidosis, raised lactate and acute kidney injury. The calculated anion and osmolar gap were both elevated at 37.7 and 39.3, respectively. Due to his reduced Glasgow coma score (GCS) he was intubated and a CT scan performed: only a small, mature pontine infarct was found of uncertain significance. Further questioning of the family revealed accidental ingestion of 150 ml of a 'blue liquid' 24 h earlier (later identified as car screenwash). With ethylene glycol (EG) poisoning suspected, he was given intravenous ethanol, fomepizole (a competitive inhibitor of alcohol dehydrogenase) and haemofiltration. Despite the delayed presentation, prompt recognition and treatment of EG poisoning led to a successful discharge in this case.