Dead sea syndrome: a case report

ABSTRACT

Dead Sea has 33.7% salinity which makes it one of the saltiest water on earth. Drowning and swallowing Dead Sea water with its high content of minerals affects significantly the electrolytes balance in the body. We report a nine year old boy who drown in the dead sea and developed secondary life threatening sever hypercalcemia and hypermagnesemia causing abnormal cardiac rhythm; he is successfully treated with hemodialysis. Physician who treat patients drown in the Dead Sea has to be aware of electrolyte abnormalities especially for calcium and magnesium and the proper method of management including hemodialysis or hemofiltration