HOW DO YOU TREAT REFRACTORY METHEMOGLOBINERMIA? CAN METHYLENE BLUE CAUSE SEROTONIN SYNDROME?
(Last abstract from the American College of Medical Toxicology meeting).
This was a case discussion regarding refractory methemoglobinemia (Methb). I learned a lot from it and thought you might be interested.
Sodium Nitrite exposures have markedly increased over the last two years. It is readily available on the internet as a white crystalline material resembling table salt that easily dissolves in water. Nitrites oxidize the iron in hemoglobin from Fe+2 to Fe+3 yielding Methb which reduces the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood.
A 29 year-old male injected sodium nitrite. He arrived in the ED with a Methb concentration of 73.3% (this concentration is associated with a >70% mortality) and a lactate of 4. He was cyanotic, in shock and rapidly intubated.
The antidote, Methylene Blue(MB) (1 mg/kg), was administered twice (usual dose is 1-2 mg/kg) as well as vasopressors. At high doses, MB will induce a hemolytic anemia.
The patient developed clonus and hyperreflexia to touch after the second administration of MB. There was concern that MB had caused a serotonin syndrome (SS) *although cerebral hypoxia has many clinical signs consistent with SS. (MB is a MAO inhibitor, which like SSRI and SNRI block the extracellular clearance of serotonin).
Exchange transfusion and ECMO were considered. HD catheter placement failed so a thoracotomy was performed in the ED and a cannulae was placed in the right atrium and aorta. BC exchange was performed by exsanguination and repletion of 3 units of RBC. Subsequently 4 more units were administered via exchange. Following ECMO initiation, vasopressors were able to be weaned. Methemoglobinemia resolved in 19 hours. The patient was discharged neurologically intact.
*Comment: Although toxicologists think of MB as an antidote for methemoglobinemia, it is also used in cardiothoracic surgeries to treat vasoplegia as MB reverses refractory hypotension through nitric oxide-mediating pathways. There are case report from the cardiac/thoracic literature of SS following the administration of MB. *However, these patients are also receiving a number of other drugs. If MB is administered to a patient already receiving a serotonergic drug (such as an SSRI) the risk is certainly higher of causing a SS.
This is clearly not a case you deal with every day.
Call the Poison Center when caring for patients with unusual toxicologic presentations.
References:
https://toxandhound.com/toxhound/refractory-methemoglobinemia/
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/04/technology/amazon-suicide-poison-preservative.html
Question prepared by Donna Seger, MD
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DONNA SEGER, MD
Professor Emeritus
Department of Medicine, VUMC
Tennessee Poison Center
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