Severe Ethanol Intoxication in an Adolescent

A 15-year-old boy presented to the emergency department with status epilepticus and a blood ethanol concentration of 757 mg/dL. Mechanical ventilation and substantial amounts of benzodiazepines were required. His hospital course was complicated by aspiration pneumonia, but he had no episodes of hypoglycemia. He received 2.8 hours of hemodialysis, which increased the rate of ethanol elimination, but there is no evidence that hemodialysis improved his clinical outcome. To our knowledge, this is the highest blood ethanol level reported in a child or adolescent who survived.