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A 23-year-old man survived a suicide attempt in which he had swallowed 1500 mg potassium cyanide. Initially there were cerebral seizure and marked lactacidosis. Six hours after hospital admission the cyanide blood level was 6 mg/l. The poisoning having at first not been recognized he at that time merely received supportive treatment to counteract the acidosis, as well as assisted ventilation with hyperventilation and hyperoxigenation. Afterwards, sodium thiosulphate was given additionally for 24 h at a dosage of 1 g per hour. The clinical course underlines the great importance of supportive measures in the treatment of cyanide poisoning. In the individual case the balance between risk and value of an intrinsically toxic antidote administration must be critically assessed.

Clinical use of peripheral blood progenitor cell (PBPC) transplantation following high-dose chemotherapy is increasingly used in the treatment of solid tumours and haematologic malignancies. As compared with rescue by autologous bone marrow cells, restoration with peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPC) shortens the period of pancytopenia post transplantation and reduces the risk of infection and bleeding.