Ethchlorvynol (Placidyl) intoxication and its treatment by hemodialysis.

Twenty hours after ingesting 15-25 g. of ethchlorvynol, a 37-year-old woman was admitted comatose and in shock. The blood level of ethchlorvynol was 21.6 mg. % (method of Wallace). Supportive measures were instituted and hemodialysis, carried out for 10 hours, removed 5.49 g. of the drug. The post-dialysis blood level was 9.05 mg. % and the rate of dialysance was 50.5 ml./min. Only 0.6 g. of the substance was recovered from the urine over the same period.Although dialysis removed significant amounts of the drug and sustained life, the patient remained comatose for five days before withdrawal symptoms and seizures developed.