A suicide caused by oral ingestion of colchicine is reported. Postmortem examination revealed circulating Pelger-Huet polymorphonuclear leukocytes and numerous mitotic and chromatin bodies in tissues with rapid cell turnover. Colchicine was identified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) of an organic extract of a urine specimen obtained about 36 h after the patient's original hospitalization. The clinical history and pathology of this rarely encountered intoxication are correlated with previous reports, and the rapid detection of colchicine by GC/MS is discussed.
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Clevenger et al. (1991) studied this question.
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