Two Fatal Cases of Caffeine Poisoning and a Review of the Literatur

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Abstract

Caffeine is commonly used as a stimulant, and fatal caffeine overdoses are increasing. In the present study, two case reports showing a fatal blood concentration of caffeine were reported and compared to previously published case reports. Case 1: A 19-year-old female was found dead in her room. It was speculated that she ingested 84 tablets （100 mg） of a sleep-inhibitor product. The caffeine levels in her cardiac blood and stomach were 116 μg/ml and 619 μg/ml, respectively. There was no macroscopic indication of any natural or unnatural cause of death. Case 2: The condition of a 47-year-old male deteriorated suddenly. Hypothermia and excess sweating were observed. After vomiting several times, he lost consciousness. At autopsy, severe pulmonary edema was observed. His cardiac blood caffeine level was determined to be 171 μg/ml, which exceeds fatal blood caffeine levels. However, there is no evidence of his ingesting massive amounts of caffeine. The blood caffeine concentration in previously reported fatal caffeine ingestions ranged from 33 to 350 μg/ml. The two present cases are within this range. The accumulation of data on blood caffeine concentrations and ingestion amounts is helpful to predict the intake amount of caffeine.

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