BACKGROUND
A 28-year-old man presented with acute flaccid paralysis and respiratory failure that persisted for 2 weeks after suicidal ingestion of unknown substances.
METHODS
Extensive clinical, nerve, laboratory, and neuroimaging testing excluded alternative causes of this neuromuscular syndrome.
One of the most poisonous species amongst higher plants is Conium maculatum. It is a very common nitrophile weed species, belonging to the Apiaceae (formerly Umbelliferae) family. It contains some piperidine alkaloids (coniine, N-methyl-coniine, conhydrine, pseudoconhydrine, gamma-coniceine), which