Severe glycerol intoxication mimicking toxic alcohol ingestion following large volume consumption of vanilla essence.

Abstract

Introduction: Patients with ethanol dependence may consume vanilla extract for the high alcohol content.

Case presentation: A 42-year-old male with ethanol dependence who developed status epilepticus, severe anion gap metabolic acidosis and a hyperosmolar non-ketotic coma after ingestion of 600 mL vanilla essence. He was found to have an osmolar gap of 151 with a marked pseudohypertriglyceridaemia of 96.4 mmol/L (8350 mg/dL), found to be secondary to significantly elevated glycerol levels. The patient required intubation for status epilepticus and dialysis to correct the severe acid-base disturbance and remove excess glycerol. The patient made a full recovery.

Discussion: Glycerol is traditionally thought to be a nontoxic alcohol, but this represents a severe case of glycerol toxicity requiring treatment with dialysis. It may represent an emerging or underdiagnosed clinical presentation given availability of high-glycerol products. In the right clinical context, pseudohypertriglyceridaemia and altered mental state may be recognised as glycerol intoxication, avoiding the need for unnecessary investigations.