An Atropa belladonna L. poisoning with acute subdural hematoma

Abstract

Atropa belladonna L. is a plant long known to cause poisoning. But no cases of acute subdural hematoma resulting from such poisoning have been reported so far. Care must also be taken in terms of acute pancreatitis and rhabdomyolysis in cases of such poisoning. The plant may sometimes be mistaken for the Caucasian blueberry, V. arctostaphylos L. At least one anti-cholinesterase toxidrome finding was determined in all the nine cases of belladonna poisoning in this series. No elevated creatine kinase was reported in one case with acute subdural hematoma and hyperamylasemia.