Abstract
A 29 year old man was admitted 36 hours after ingesting about 5 g paraquat. His arterial oxygen pressure fell progressively to 3.4 kPa (34 mm Hg), and pulmonary damage induced by paraquat was diagnosed. His condition did not improve after treatment with prednisolone and cyclophosphamide, but after irradiation both lungs cleared and arterial oxygen pressure started to improve. Irradiation of the lungs should be considered in patients who, after surviving the acute phase of poisoning with paraquat, show progressive deterioration of respiratory function.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Fennelly J. J., Fitzgerald M. X., Fitzgerald O. Recovery from severe paraquat poisoning following forced diuresis and immunosuppressive therapy. J Ir Med Assoc. 1971 Feb 4;64(405):69–71. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Proudfoot A. T., Stewart M. S., Levitt T., Widdop B. Paraquat poisoning: significance of plasma-paraquat concentrations. Lancet. 1979 Aug 18;2(8138):330–332. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(79)90345-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rebello G., Mason J. K. Pulmonary histological appearances in fatal paraquat poisoning. Histopathology. 1978 Jan;2(1):53–66. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2559.1978.tb01693.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Vijeyaratnam G. S., Corrin B. Experimental paraquat poisoning: a histological and electron-optical study of the changes in the lung. J Pathol. 1971 Feb;103(2):123–129. doi: 10.1002/path.1711030207. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]