Fatal outcome of poisoning with ethylene glycol

After an act of violence, a delinquent swallowed about 250 ml ethylene glycol (EG) - probably to commit suicide before being arrested. During an interrogation by the police he appeared to be inebriated. A blood sample taken at this time did not contain ethanol but 5.1 g/l EG, as revealed by the analytical results. Only after a second examination was he taken to an intensive care unit in a hospital in spite of signs of pronounced intoxication after 12 h at the first examination. The patient died 30 h after taking EG without being effectively treated. The correct diagnosis, initiated by information from the poison control center, was made too late. At autopsy, findings were indicative of stage II of EG poisoning with a body burden of still 40-60 g EG. The mean rate of degradation in the blood was approximately 0.15 g/l per hour.