Diagnostic pitfalls associated with amoxapine overdose: a case report.

Amoxapine is a second-generation antidepressant that has been reported to cause seizures, severe acidosis, cardiac dysrhythmias, hypotension, renal failure, coma, and cardiorespiratory arrest in poisoning exposures. This is a report of a previously normal 9-year-old child who presented with generalized tonic clonic seizures that led to an extensive workup for primary generalized epilepsy. Nothing in the patient's history or laboratory test results suggested ingestion of a toxin. It was not until 48 hours after admission, when the child admitted taking several of her mother's amoxapine tablets, that the correct diagnosis was made. Because of the risks and the diagnostic pitfalls associated with ingestion of amoxapine, clinicians should be mindful of the lessons taught by this case.