Loperamide poisoning resulting in death: a case report and literature review
Loperamide is a medication commonly used to treat acute and chronic diarrhea and is generally considered safe because it poorly crosses the blood-brain barrier at therapeutic doses. However, in recent years, with the abuse and overdose of loperamide, its potential cardiotoxicity and central nervous...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Pharmacology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2025.1597869/full |
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| author | Bowen Wang Zhan Zhang Ke Chen Zhongyang Du Tianchen Zhang Ping Xie |
| author_facet | Bowen Wang Zhan Zhang Ke Chen Zhongyang Du Tianchen Zhang Ping Xie |
| author_sort | Bowen Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Loperamide is a medication commonly used to treat acute and chronic diarrhea and is generally considered safe because it poorly crosses the blood-brain barrier at therapeutic doses. However, in recent years, with the abuse and overdose of loperamide, its potential cardiotoxicity and central nervous system depression have increasingly raised concerns. This article reports a case of a 15-year-old male patient who died from poisoning after a single ingestion of 60 mg of loperamide. The patient took a large dose of loperamide 6 h before admission and was found to have respiratory and cardiac arrest 1 h before admission. Despite cardiopulmonary resuscitation and advanced life support treatment, the patient ultimately died from irreversible brain damage. Electrocardiography showed significant QTc interval prolongation, and the plasma loperamide concentration was 50 ng/mL, indicating loperamide’s cardiotoxicity. This article, through this case and a review of the literature, discusses the mechanisms of loperamide’s cardiotoxicity, clinical manifestations, and treatment strategies, aiming to enhance clinicians' awareness of loperamide poisoning. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8b475bdf2be64d968b62c7e6c80f0a2e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1663-9812 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Pharmacology |
| spelling | doaj-art-8b475bdf2be64d968b62c7e6c80f0a2e2025-08-22T10:50:31ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Pharmacology1663-98122025-08-011610.3389/fphar.2025.15978691597869Loperamide poisoning resulting in death: a case report and literature reviewBowen Wang0Zhan Zhang1Ke Chen2Zhongyang Du3Tianchen Zhang4Ping Xie5Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Gansu Provincial Hospital, Lanzhou, ChinaDepartment of Cardiovascular Medicine, Gansu Provincial Hospital, Lanzhou, ChinaFirst Clinical Medical College, Gansu University of Chinese Medicine, Lanzhou, ChinaDepartment of Cardiovascular Medicine, Wushan County Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianshui, ChinaDepartment of Cardiovascular Medicine, Gansu Provincial Hospital, Lanzhou, ChinaDepartment of Cardiovascular Medicine, Gansu Provincial Hospital, Lanzhou, ChinaLoperamide is a medication commonly used to treat acute and chronic diarrhea and is generally considered safe because it poorly crosses the blood-brain barrier at therapeutic doses. However, in recent years, with the abuse and overdose of loperamide, its potential cardiotoxicity and central nervous system depression have increasingly raised concerns. This article reports a case of a 15-year-old male patient who died from poisoning after a single ingestion of 60 mg of loperamide. The patient took a large dose of loperamide 6 h before admission and was found to have respiratory and cardiac arrest 1 h before admission. Despite cardiopulmonary resuscitation and advanced life support treatment, the patient ultimately died from irreversible brain damage. Electrocardiography showed significant QTc interval prolongation, and the plasma loperamide concentration was 50 ng/mL, indicating loperamide’s cardiotoxicity. This article, through this case and a review of the literature, discusses the mechanisms of loperamide’s cardiotoxicity, clinical manifestations, and treatment strategies, aiming to enhance clinicians' awareness of loperamide poisoning.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2025.1597869/fullloperamide toxicitycardiotoxicityQTc interval prolongationadolescent poisoningcase report |
| spellingShingle | Bowen Wang Zhan Zhang Ke Chen Zhongyang Du Tianchen Zhang Ping Xie Loperamide poisoning resulting in death: a case report and literature review Frontiers in Pharmacology loperamide toxicity cardiotoxicity QTc interval prolongation adolescent poisoning case report |
| title | Loperamide poisoning resulting in death: a case report and literature review |
| title_full | Loperamide poisoning resulting in death: a case report and literature review |
| title_fullStr | Loperamide poisoning resulting in death: a case report and literature review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Loperamide poisoning resulting in death: a case report and literature review |
| title_short | Loperamide poisoning resulting in death: a case report and literature review |
| title_sort | loperamide poisoning resulting in death a case report and literature review |
| topic | loperamide toxicity cardiotoxicity QTc interval prolongation adolescent poisoning case report |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2025.1597869/full |
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