%0 Journal Article
%T Acute mercury poisoning: a case report
%A Sezgin Sarikaya
%A Ozgur Karcioglu
%A Didem Ay
%A Asl£¿ Cetin
%A Can Aktas
%A Mustafa Serinken
%J BMC Emergency Medicine
%D 2010
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-227x-10-7
%X A 36-year-old woman presented to the ED with a three-day history of abdominal pain, diarrhea and fever. One week ago her daughter had brought mercury in the liquid form from the school. She had put it on the heating stove. One day later, her 14-month old sister baby got fever and died before admission to the hospital. Her blood pressure was 134/87 mmHg; temperature, 40.2¡ãC; heart rate 105 bpm and regular; respiration, 18 bpm; O2 saturation, 96%. Nothing was remarkable on examination and routine laboratory tests. As serine or urinary mercury levels could not be tested in the city, symptomatic chelation treatment with N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) was instituted with regard to presumptive diagnosis and history. At the 7th day of admission she was discharged without any sequelae or complaint. At the discharge day blood was drawn and sent for mercury levels which turned out to be 30 ¦Ìg/dL (normal range: 0 - 10 ¦Ìg/dL).Public education on poisoning and the potential hazards of mercury are of vital importance for community health.Acute and chronic mercury exposure represents a potential threat to community health. Mercury poisoning can occur as a result of occupational hazard or suicide attempt. Mercury is silver-colored and liquid at room temperature. Mercury is available in inorganic and organic forms. All compounds of mercury are toxic but differ in the routes of absorption, clinical findings, and responses to therapy. Methylmercury, the soluble form is neurotoxic. Elemental (organic) mercury is especially hazardous for children since it is in liquid form and can easily be found around [1].The clinical effects of mercury poisoning depend on the form and the route of entry to the organism. Neurologic, gastrointestinal and renal systems are predominantly affected depending on the route of exposure.This article presents a 36-year-old case admitted to emergency department (ED) with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea caused by accidental inhalation and skin exposure of metallic mercury
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-227X/10/7