On the question of extracorporeal hemodialysis in diquat intoxication

Extracorporeal hemodialyses were carried out in a female patient with severe diquat intoxication. Diquat clearance was on average 3.17 ml/min. Only 0.84 mg diquat could be eliminated from the blood serum by 11.5 hrs of dialysis. Hemodialysis is therefore not an efficient technique for removing amounts of diquat from the organism that are toxicologically relevant one day after ingestion.The analytical assistance of Mr. S. Schwind is gratefully acknowledged.