Early: headache, dizziness, fast heart rate, shortness of breath, vomiting[2] Later: seizures, slow heart rate, low blood pressure, loss of consciousness, cardiac arrest[2]
Usual onset
Few minutes[2][3]
Causes
Cyanide compounds[4]
Risk factors
House fire, metal polishing, certain insecticides, eating seeds such as from almonds[2][3][5]
Diagnostic method
Based on symptoms, high blood lactate[2]
Treatment
Decontamination, supportive care (100% oxygen), hydroxocobalamin[2][3][6]
Cyanide poisoning is poisoning that results from exposure to any of a number of forms of cyanide.[4] Early symptoms include headache, dizziness, fast heart rate, shortness of breath, and vomiting.[2] This phase may then be followed by seizures, slow heart rate, low blood pressure, loss of consciousness, and cardiac arrest.[2] Onset of symptoms usually occurs within a few minutes.[2][3] Some survivors have long-term neurological problems.[2]
Toxic cyanide-containing compounds include hydrogen cyanide gas and a number of cyanide salts.[2] Poisoning is relatively common following breathing in smoke from a house fire.[2] Other potential routes of exposure include workplaces involved in metal polishing, certain insecticides, the medication sodium nitroprusside, and certain seeds such as those of apples and apricots.[3][7][8] Liquid forms of cyanide can be absorbed through the skin.[9] Cyanide ions interfere with cellular respiration, resulting in the body's tissues being unable to use oxygen.[2]
Diagnosis is often difficult.[2] It may be suspected in a person following a house fire who has a decreased level of consciousness, low blood pressure, or high lactic acid.[2] Blood levels of cyanide can be measured but take time.[2] Levels of 0.5–1 mg/L are mild, 1–2 mg/L are moderate, 2–3 mg/L are severe, and greater than 3 mg/L generally result in death.[2]
If exposure is suspected, the person should be removed from the source of the exposure and decontaminated.[3] Treatment involves supportive care and giving the person 100% oxygen.[2][3] Hydroxocobalamin (vitamin B12a) appears to be useful as an antidote and is generally first-line.[2][6] Sodium thiosulphate may also be given.[2] Historically, cyanide has been used for mass suicide and it was used for genocide by the Nazis.[3][10]
^Waters BL (2010). Handbook of Autopsy Practice (4 ed.). Springer Science & Business Media. p. 427. ISBN 978-1-59745-127-7. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstAnseeuw K, Delvau N, Burillo-Putze G, De Iaco F, Geldner G, Holmström P, Lambert Y, Sabbe M (February 2013). "Cyanide poisoning by fire smoke inhalation: a European expert consensus". European Journal of Emergency Medicine. 20 (1): 2–9. doi:10.1097/mej.0b013e328357170b. PMID 22828651. S2CID 29844296.
^ abcdefghHamel J (February 2011). "A review of acute cyanide poisoning with a treatment update". Critical Care Nurse. 31 (1): 72–81, quiz 82. doi:10.4037/ccn2011799. PMID 21285466.
^ abDorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary (32 ed.). Elsevier Health Sciences. 2011. p. 1481. ISBN 978-1-4557-0985-4. Archived from the original on 14 May 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
^Ballhorn DJ (2011). "Cyanogenic Glycosides in Nuts and Seeds". Nuts and Seeds in Health and Disease Prevention. Elsevier. pp. 129–136. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-375688-6.10014-3. ISBN 978-0-12-375688-6.
^Hevesi D (26 March 1993). "Imported Bitter Apricot Pits Recalled as Cyanide Hazard". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 August 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
^"Sodium Nitroprusside". The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
^"Hydrogen Cyanide – Emergency Department/Hospital Management". CHEMM. 14 January 2015. Archived from the original on 14 November 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
Cyanidepoisoning is poisoning that results from exposure to any of a number of forms of cyanide. Early symptoms include headache, dizziness, fast heart...
treatment of cyanidepoisoning (UK) Hydrogen cyanide and cyanides (CICAD 61) IPCS/CEC Evaluation of antidotes for poisoning by cyanides National Pollutant...
oxygen in the blood. The effects of potassium cyanide and sodium cyanide are identical, and symptoms of poisoning typically occur within a few minutes of ingesting...
said family friend Mohammad Bawa. “Acute cyanidepoisoning can result in death in a matter of seconds. Cyanide does not accumulate in the body and so it...
intravenously for the purpose of treating cyanidepoisoning, as the hydroxyl group is displaced by cyanide, creating a non-toxic cyanocobalamin that is...
but also potentially toxic or lethal when taken by mouth due to cyanidepoisoning. The promotion of laetrile to treat cancer has been described in the...
acetaminophen capsules that had been laced with potassium cyanide. Seven people died in the original poisonings, and there were several more deaths in subsequent...
Europe. Eva Braun, his wife of one day, also committed suicide by cyanidepoisoning. In accordance with Hitler's prior written and verbal instructions...
despite oxygen therapy. It has previously been used for treating cyanidepoisoning and urinary tract infections, but this use is no longer recommended...
deficiency including pernicious anemia. Other uses include treatment for cyanidepoisoning, Leber's optic atrophy, and toxic amblyopia. It is given by injection...
Connection". 14 April 2021. Meillier, Andrew; Heller, Cara (2015). "Acute CyanidePoisoning: Hydroxocobalamin and Sodium Thiosulfate Treatments with Two Outcomes...
acetonitrile to cyanide (generally about 2–12 hours). Cases of acetonitrile poisoning in humans (or, to be more specific, of cyanidepoisoning after exposure...
ineffective in treating cancer. Apricot kernels can cause potentially fatal cyanidepoisoning when consumed. Symptoms include nausea, fever, headaches, insomnia...
Hydrogen cyanide (once known as prussic acid) is a chemical compound with the formula HCN and structural formula H−C≡N. It is a highly toxic and flammable...
909 individuals died in Jonestown itself, all but two from apparent cyanidepoisoning, a significant number of whom were injected against their will, in...
aged 41, from cyanidepoisoning. An inquest determined his death as suicide, but the evidence is also consistent with accidental poisoning. Following a...
Grand Indonesia shopping mall in Jakarta. According to the police, cyanidepoisoning was most likely the cause of Mirna's death. Police charged Jessica...
nylon, cyanidepoisoning Dora Carrington (1932), English artist, gunshot Kevin Carter (1994), South African photojournalist, carbon monoxide poisoning Tim...
sitting room of the bunker: Braun by biting and swallowing a capsule of cyanide, and Hitler by a gunshot to the head. The German public was unaware of...
Each of these individuals are recorded as having been subjected to cyanidepoisoning; contrary to the Western conclusion (and the accepted view of historians)...
in the workplace. The symptoms of blood agent poisoning depend on concentration and duration. Cyanide-based blood agents irritate the eyes and the respiratory...
results from tissue poisoning, such as that caused by cyanide (which acts by inhibiting cytochrome oxidase) and certain other poisons like hydrogen sulfide...
human studies. Amyl nitrites were part of some kits used to treat cyanidepoisoning, containing amyl nitrite, sodium nitrite, and sodium thiosulfate....
Sodium thiosulfate has been considered as an empirical treatment for cyanidepoisoning, along with hydroxocobalamin. It is most effective in a pre-hospital...
a hidden potassium cyanide pill and collapsed onto the floor. He was dead within 15 minutes, despite efforts to expel the poison from his system. Shortly...
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