Near fatal acute colchicine intoxication in a child. A case report

An 8-year-old child with familial Mediterranean fever exhibited signs of co lchicine intoxication while receiving prophylactic doses of the drug. She d eveloped gastrointestinal, central nervous system, cardiovascular and haema tological disturbances. Over 2 months she had been drinking high doses of n atural grapefruit juice which, combined with long-term colchicine therapy a nd a viral upper respiratory tract infection, increased her susceptibility to the drug. Conclusion To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time colchicine intoxication in this age group has been described in the English literature .