1. Hemodialysis Failure Secondary to Hydroxocobalamin Exposure
- Author
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Kenneth B. Christopher, Andrew Z. Fenves, Eliot Heher, Kenneth Lim, David J.R. Steele, Ravi Thadhani, Nina Tolkoff-Rubin, and John K. Tucker
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,Metabolic derangement ,business.industry ,medicine.medical_treatment ,030232 urology & nephrology ,Leak detector ,Acute kidney injury ,030208 emergency & critical care medicine ,General Medicine ,Hydroxocobalamin ,medicine.disease ,03 medical and health sciences ,Case Studies ,0302 clinical medicine ,medicine ,Cyanide poisoning ,Renal replacement therapy ,Hemodialysis ,business ,Antidote ,Intensive care medicine ,medicine.drug - Abstract
Hydroxocobalamin is a recently approved antidote for the treatment of cyanide poisoning. The case presented involves a young patient administered empiric hydroxocobalamin due to suspected cyanide overdose. Due to the development of acute kidney injury and severe metabolic derangement, emergent hemodialysis was initiated. Unfortunately, hemodialysis was confounded by a recurrent “blood leak” alarm. This unforeseen effect was secondary to interference from hydroxocobalamin. Hydroxocobalamin causes orange/red discoloration of bodily fluids and permeates the dialysate. This leads to defraction of light in the effluent path of the blood leak detector from discolored dialysate, which can result in activation of the blood leak alarm and an inability to continue hemodialysis treatment. This case highlights several new and emerging critical concerns with this medication, including the potential consequence of delayed initiation of emergent renal replacement therapy with empiric administration, the need for increased awareness among clinicians of various disciplines, and the need for multidisciplinary communication.
- Published
- 2017
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