Acute uric acid nephropathy: a complication of phencyclidine intoxication.

Phencyclidine (also known as PCP, angel dust, crystal and hog) has become an important drug of abuse and approximately 100 cases of serious intoxication are seen each month in the Emergency Room of our hospital. Major complications reported with phencyclidine abuse include respiratory depression, convulsions, coma, rhabdomyolysis, hyperpyrexia, and hypertensive crisis (Peterson and Stillman, 1978). In an earlier communication (Patel et al., 1980), we described the development and clinical course of acute renal failure that followed phencyclidine abuse in some patients. There is no evidence that phencyclidine itself is nephrotoxic and in these patients, acute renal failure was due to phencyclidine-induced rhabdomyolysis and myoglobinuria. Recently, we observed two cases of acute uric acid nephropathy in association with myoglobinuria induced by phencyclidine intoxication. This association has not previously been reported and is therefore of interest.