Analysis of 4713 cases of Wuhan pesticide poisoning reports of year 2002 to 2010 / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To provide scientific evidence of making measures for prevention of pesticide poisoning, the investigation on the condition of pesticides poisoning was carried out in Wuhan.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Registration data of pesticide poisoning from 2002 to 2010 in Wuhan were collected and statistically analyzed by SAS 9.1.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>During the nine years, there were 4713 cases reported for pesticide poisoning. Among them, the number of occupational poisoning was 2737 (2 cases died), with fatality rate of 0.07%. The number of non-occupational poisoning was 1976 (159 cases died), and its fatality rate was 8.05%. The incidence of occupational poisoning and non-occupational poisoning accounted for 58.1% and 41.9%, respectively. Insecticides especially organophosphorus insecticides, such as parathion, dichlorvos, and methamidophos accounted for 70.6% of the poisoning. Occupational poisoning took place mainly in man, accounting for 68.8%, Non-occupational or life poisoning in contrast mainly occurred in women with a proportion of 66.8%. The majority of the occupational poisoning were 30-59 year-old patients (2239 cases, 81.8%). The majority of the non-occupational poisoning were 30-44 year-old patients (665 cases, 33.6%) and - 70 years old patients (209 cases, 10.6%). High incidence of occupational pesticide poisoning, the regional distribution of Caidian (1016 cases, 37.1% ) highest, followed by the Dongxihu, Hannan and Huangpi. The pesticide poisoning mainly occurred from July to September. The occupational poisoning was mainly caused by poor protection, long working hours, and practice not implemented. The non-occupational poisoning was mainly caused by suicide.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The majority of the occupational poisoning in Wuhan was middle-aged men. The pesticide poisoning was main caused by insecticides.</p>

A pilot study of selective screening for high risk children with inborn error of metabolism using tandem mass spectrometry in China / 中华儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>The new technology of tandem mass spectrometry is exerting a significant impact on the diagnostics of inborn metabolic errors, and allows to detect a number of these disorders in a single step. The aim of the present study was to establish a dry blood filter paper method for amino acid and acylcarnitine profiles test using tandem mass spectrometry and to apply the method for selective screening in high risk children with inborn error of metabolism.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The study group consisted of 104 high risk cases of inborn error of metabolism from 5 pediatric hospitals in Shanghai and Beijing were tested from November 2002 to June 2003; 77 were males and 27 females, the means age was 4.8 +/- 4.2 years. These patients had mental retardation, slow development, psychological abnormalities, muscle hypotonia, jaundice, hepatosplenomegaly, recurrent vomiting, and convulsion. Laboratory examinations suggested metabolic acidosis, hypoglycemia, hyperammonemia and hyperlactacidemia. Phenylketonuria was excluded in this study by routine phenylalanine screening. The control group consisted of 308 children, 170 males and 138 females. The blood was collected on filter paper, punched and extracted into methanol solution with stable isotope labeled internal standards, then derivatized with butanolic-HCl. After preparation, the samples were analyzed by tandem mass spectrometry (API 2000).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Ten of 104 patients (9.6%) were positive in our selective screening program, including one with tyrosinemia, one with homocystinuria, one with hyperornithinemia, two with methylmalonic acidemia, one with propionic acidemia, one with 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA lyase deficiency, two with medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency, and one with carnitine palmitoyl transferase type II deficiency.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The authors established a fast, accurate and sensitive tandem mass spectrometry method for amino acid and acylcarnitine profiles analysis, nearly 30 metabolic diseases including amino acid disorders, organic acid disorders and fatty acid oxidation disorders could be detected, most of the diseases that cause death and disability represent preventable entities by early diagnosis and treatment. The results indicated the importance of selective screening for high risk patients with inborn error of metabolism.</p>