ABSTRACT
Abrin is a toxin of public health concern due to its lethality, lack of antidote, and potential for use as a bioterrorism agent. Possible routes of exposure include ingestion, inhalation, and injection. Onset of symptoms is often delayed, even in severe cases. In fatal cases, death occurs from multi-organ failure. We describe the clinical course, laboratory, and pathologic findings in a case of fatal human poisoning associated with abrin injection. The Abrus precatorius seeds in this case were obtained via the internet. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Laboratory Response Network detected abrine in the urine confirming abrin exposure in this fatal poisoning.
Subject(s)
Abrin/poisoning , Adult , Fatal Outcome , Humans , Injections , MaleABSTRACT
Normobaric supplemental oxygen can prolong seizures not caused by hyperbaric oxygen therapy. In addition, hyperbaric oxygen therapy can cause seizures. The mechanism of hyperbaric oxygen-induced seizures is unknown. We hypothesized that pretreatment with pyridoxine may delay the onset of hyperbaric oxygen-induced seizures, recognizing that pyridoxine is already an antidote for some epileptogenic poisons such as isoniazid and monomethylhydrazine. Therefore, rats were pretreated with intraperitoneal injections of pyridoxine at 48, 24, and 2 h before undergoing hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) treatment at 3 atmospheres absolute with 100% oxygen and were compared to a control group of HBO-treated rats for time to onset of seizures. There was no difference in onset of seizure time between the pyridoxine-treated group of rats and the control rats. Supplemental pyridoxine pretreatment did not alter the time to onset of seizures during HBO treatment in this study.
Subject(s)
Hyperbaric Oxygenation/adverse effects , Premedication , Pyridoxine/therapeutic use , Seizures/prevention & control , Animals , Injections, Intraperitoneal , Male , Random Allocation , Rats , Rats, Sprague-Dawley , Seizures/etiologyABSTRACT
Pit viper bites are very rare in pregnant patients and there is no consensus for treatment. This case report describes the treatment of a 28-year-old woman at 26 weeks gestation who suffered a pit viper envenomation.
Subject(s)
Pregnancy Complications/therapy , Snake Bites/therapy , Viperidae , Adult , Animals , Female , Humans , PregnancyABSTRACT
The leukotriene receptor antagonists (LTRAs) is a relatively new class of asthma medication with a lack of toxicity for unintentional poisoningsituations. This makes it difficult to determine which exposures require aggressive decontamination or simple monitoring in the home setting: prompting the question, "What LTRA dose is likely to produce significant toxicity?" We report a case of an unintentional poisoning with 80 mg montelukast in a 3-y-o asthmatic child that was managed in the home with observation alone and a second case of untentional 135 mg montelukast poisoning in a 5-y-o asthmatic child managed in an emergency department. In both cases, symptoms were not observed. These cases and available literature suggest that doses < 4.5 mg/kg in children result in minimal toxicity.
