Suicide from a Cerbera odollam kernel

Lee Kiang

doi:10.31579/2692-9392/007

Abstract

We report the case of a 22 year-old female patient who died 24 hours after consuming 2 seeds of the mangrove plant Cerbera odollam, locally known as the Pong pong tree from fatal dysrhythmia. This fruit is responsible for a lot of suicidal deaths in Kerala, India but rarely in Singapore1. These seeds contain active cardiac glycosides similar to digoxin which can result in fatal dysrhythmias and hyperkalaemia.

Highlights

Suicide is the leading cause of death in Singapore for the age group ranging from 10 to 29 years
We report the case of a 22 year-old female patient who died 24 hours after consuming 2 seeds of the mangrove plant Cerbera odollam, locally known as the Pong pong tree from fatal dysrhythmia
It has been to my best knowledge that a suicidal case involving the kernel of Cerbera odollam has never been reported in Singapore

Summary

Introduction

Suicide is the leading cause of death in Singapore for the age group ranging from 10 to 29 years. Abstract We report the case of a 22 year-old female patient who died 24 hours after consuming 2 seeds of the mangrove plant Cerbera odollam, locally known as the Pong pong tree from fatal dysrhythmia. These seeds contain active cardiac glycosides similar to digoxin which can result in fatal dysrhythmias and hyperkalaemia.

Results

Conclusion