A FATAL CASE OF SUICIDAL PENTOXIFYLLINE INTOXICATION

Pentoxifylline is a xanthine derivative used in the treatment of perip heral vascular disease. It is considered to be a safe drug and to the best of our knowledge there are no reports in the medical literature o f cases of fatal poisoning. There is only one previous report of a you ng woman who tried to commit suicide by taking a large amount of the d rug but recovered. We report the case of a 54-year-old man who took a massive dose of pentoxifylline and died after 24 h from refractory sho ck. The blood levels of pentoxifylline were as high as 32.5 mu g/ml wh ere the average therapeutic level is 1.3 mu g/ml.