'Maculopatía por poppers' en España. Una nueva enfermedad oftalmológica / 'Poppers maculopathy?' in Spain. A new ophthalmological disease

INTRODUCCIÓN: El término 'poppers' se refiere a productos a base de nitritos de alquilo utilizados con fines recreativos. CASO CLÍNICO: Varón de 40 años de edad, consumidor habitual de 'popper' que refiere visión borrosa en ambos ojos y fotofobia. La agudeza visual fue 0,63/1 en ambos ojos. Se apreció una lesión macular amarillenta de aspecto viteliforme bilateral en la funduscopia y una interrupción de la línea IS/OS en la tomografía de coherencia óptica. DISCUSIÓN: Este es el primer caso de 'maculopatía por poppers' registrada en España. Los hallazgos y síntomas clínicos son similares a los casos anteriores reportados

INTRODUCTION: The term 'poppers' refers to products made of volatile alkyl nitrites used for recreational practices. Clinical case: 40 year old man reported blurred vision in both eyes and photophobia, and admitted regular use of 'poppers'. Best corrected visual acuity was 0.63/1 in both eyes. Bilateral yellowish vitelliform macular lesions were present in both eyes in the funduscopy, as well as a disruption of the IS/OS line in the optical coherence tomography. DISCUSSION: This is the first case of 'poppers maculopathy' registered in Spain. Clinical findings and symptoms are similar to previous reported cases

Nowhere to hide: Chemical toxicants and the unborn child.

Contemporary reproductive aged women and their offspring are facing an unprecedented onslaught of toxicant exposures from myriad sources in their day-to-day life. Public health recommendations regarding optimal diet and nutrition in pregnancy must incorporate several considerations including safety of available foodstuffs, cultural practices and lifestyle issues. Gestational consumption of contaminated seafood remains a potential source of toxicant exposure, including mercury, for the developing child. Health care professionals responsible for the care of women and their developing children need to become apprised of: a) risks associated with toxicant bioaccumulation in pregnancy; b) ongoing information emerging in the important field of reproductive toxicology; and c) strategies within the clinical setting to facilitate nutritional sufficiency and precautionary avoidance of adverse exposure among young women.

Thimerosal positivities: the rôle of SH groups and divalent ions.

For a better understanding of the mechanistic details of the interactions of organomercury compounds inside the skin, 32 subjects who previously had given positive patch-test reactions to thimerosal (TH) and negative reactions to thiosalicylic acid, were divided into 2 groups. 16 subjects were repatch tested to ethylmercury chloride (EtHgCl) and to solutions containing EtHgCl mixed with L-cysteine and glutathione, respectively. The remaining 16 were repatch tested to EtHgCl and to solutions containing EtHgCl mixed with chlorides of Zn, Mg, and Mn, respectively. The results showed that whilst L-cysteine, glutathione and ZnCl2 were able to abolish or to reduce the positive reactions to EtHgCl, chlorides of Mg and Mn were unable to do so. Patch tests revealed that in causing positive reactions to TH, EtHg probably interacted with thiol groups and with Zn ions, as in biological systems when causing toxic effects. The limited number of TH reactions in the general population, the constant presence of concomitant positive reactions to EtHgCl and MeHgCl, and the lack of cross-reactivity with other organic or inorganic mercury compounds, lead us to speculate that reactions to TH are due to organomercury alkyl compounds, and that positive subjects have a constitutively reduced capability to metabolize organomercury compounds, rather than to reveal previous exposure.

Emergency care of chemical burns.

Because of the large number of potentially injurious chemicals present in the home and workplace, chemical burns pose a unique challenge to the health care professional. For the majority of injuries, prompt and prolonged hydrotherapy is the cornerstone of therapy. The clinician needs to remember that the extent and depth of chemical injuries are difficult to assess in the acute phase; therefore, careful monitoring of blood values, urine output, and other parameters is necessary to gauge the volume of fluid required with major injury.