Thallium concentrations in body fluids and tissues in a fatal case of thallium poisoning.

A fatal case of thallium poisoning is described in which the thallium concentration was quantitated in plasma and urine during treatment and in tissue samples obtained on postmortem examination. As ileus paralyticus and the onset of renal failure were already manifested on admission of the patient, charcoal hemoperfusion and this technique in combination with hemodialysis were applied which showed to be tenfold more effective than the simultaneous renal elimination. The highest thallium concentration was found in the heart and not in kidneys as reported previously in animal experiments. Evidence is presented that thallium distribution in kidneys is dose dependent.