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Chloroquine overdose can cause severe poisoning, including life-threatening shock or cardiac arrest, as well as severe hypokalemia. These investigators examined the relation between plasma potassium concentration and the severity of poisoning. They retrospectively identified 191 consecutive cases of chloroquine overdose over six years, 12 percent of which proved fatal. The patients' mean plasma potassium concentration was 3.0 mmol/l on hospital admission (standard deviation, 0.8) mmol/l, and 2.4 mmol/l in those who died (SD, 1.0). Plasma potassium levels were inversely related to clinical and laboratory indices of poisoning severity, including the amount of chloroquine ingested, blood chloroquine concentration, QRS duration and QT ratio on …