[Acute benzodiazepine poisoning. Apropos of a study of 162 cases hospitalized for attempted suicide].

From a retrospective series of 162 patients hospitalized for an acute intoxication including the taking of benzodiazepine, the different aspects of this intoxication are looked into. This intoxication is, at the present time, the most frequent among those due to drugs, and the benzodiazepine responsible in most cases are oxazepam, chlorazepate and diazepam. When benzodiazepine are taken alone, in most cases, these intoxications are without troubles or responsible for moderate consciousness troubles. Troubles are over all due to associated toxic drugs, without ethanol seeming to increase considerably the seriousness of troubles. Plasmatic dosages of its compounds are difficult to explain and the levels are discordant with the symptomatology. Particularly, some levels, among the highest, are found in patients having no troubles.