Citation

Hanzlick R. Am. J. Forensic Med. Pathol. 1993; 14(3): 268-269.

Affiliation

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1993, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8311064

Abstract

The National Association of Medical Examiners (N.A.M.E.) has an ongoing project referred to as the Pediatric Toxicology (PedTox) Registry, which contains data for drugs and poisons detected in children. A recent PedTox Registry report on phenylpropanolamine (PPA) reported blood PPA concentrations in 12 dead children whose deaths were not attributed to PPA. Since that report, another article has been published describing plasma PPA concentrations in living children who were given PPA to evaluate its effect on incontinence. The 10 children in the incontinence study were older than most of the 12 deceased children whose PPA concentrations were reported in the PedTox Registry (10 of whom < or = 5 years of age). The plasma PPA levels observed in the incontinent children fell within the range of blood PPA concentrations reported in the PedTox Registry. Plasma PPA levels of up to 642 ng/ml (0.642 mg/L) were well tolerated in children > or = 6 years of age. Insufficient data exist to determine how similar blood PPA concentrations are tolerated by children < 6 years of age, although some data indicate that such levels may be well tolerated in the younger age group as well.

Language: en