Successful treatment of a patient suffering from severe acute potassium dichromate poisoning with liver transplantation

Background. Oral ingestion of potassium dichromate produces a complex spect rum of complications. It has an extremely poor prognosis and usually leads to rapid death. Methods. We report the case of a 16-year-old male patient who was admitted to hospital after oral ingestion of potassium dichromate with suicidal inte ntion. Results. The patient's condition deteriorated, and he became comatose withi n 5 days in spite of immediate attempts at detoxification, Because of irrev ersible liver failure, which occurred within 2 days after admission, and be cause of cerebral edema, the decision to perform a liver transplantation wa s made. On day 6 after admission, a compatible donor liver was transplanted , The course of liver transplantation and the patient's subsequent recovery were uneventful. Conclusion, The rationale for the delayed transplantation was to avoid dama ge of the new organ because of high serum chromium levels. Despite severe o rgan damage, the chromium content of the liver was increased, To the author s' knowledge, this is the first case report of acute toxic liver failure, c aused by potassium dichromate poisoning, treated successfully by means of l iver transplantation.