In the acute phase of organophosphate poisoning, low serum acetylcholinesterase (> 50% of minimum normal value) supports the diagnosis of organophosphate poisoning but it does not show a significant relationship to the severity of poisoning (NS). The serum acetylcholinesterase activity may be a useful parameter in following the acute prognosis of organophosphate poisoning.

No abstract

Wild mushroom poisoning (MP) is an important medical emergency that may have serious clinical outcome. The aim of this study was to evaluate the demographic and clinical features of patients with wild MP. This study was designed retrospectively by examining files of the patients with wild MP who were admitted to Ondokuz Mayis University Emergency Department, between January 2002 and December 2007. Patients ≥16 years of age were included in the study. A total of 317 patients poisoned by wild mushrooms (mean age, 42.0 ± 16.3 years; 67.5% female) were studied. All poisonings were accidental, i.e. consumption of wild mushrooms collected from open fields and woodlands or purchased from local bazaars. The common symptoms and complaints on admission were nausea (86.8%) and vomiting (79.8%). The poisoning latent phase in most cases was <6 hours (86.8%). Most of the poisonings occurred in autumn (59.6%). Three patients died in the hospital due to acute liver failure and complications. The duration of hospitalization was a median 3 days (range: 1—12 days). The public should be informed about the probable hazards of wild mushroom ingestion.

No abstract

The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the characteristics of cases of acute poisoning in adults who were admitted to emergency service over a 3-year period. Clinical charts were analyzed retrospectively for etiologic and demographic patient characteristics. A total of 810 adults were admitted to the emergency center with acute poisoning. The female-to-male ratio was 2:1. Mean ages of female and male patients were 28.8+/-12.9 years and 35.1+/-15.4 years, respectively, and many patients (46.9%) were between the ages of 16 and 25 years. Medicinal drugs were found to be the primary cause (60.5%) of poisoning, and tricyclic antidepressants were the most frequent causative agents (36.3%). Seasonal distribution of poisoning cases suggested a peak in the summer months (35.4%). Overall, 68.6% of acute poisonings were suicide attempts, and of these patients, 84.9%, 14%, and 1.1% were attempting suicide for the first, second, and third times, respectively. Among 810 cases of acute poisoning, 15 were fatal. The following conclusions were reached by investigators: (1) in the test region, younger females, especially single females, were at greater risk for poisoning than other patient groups, (2) self-poisoning cases constituted the majority of all poisonings, and (3) the main agents of self-poisoning were medicinal drugs, with antidepressants used most frequently. It was also found that unintentional poisoning commonly resulted from intake of foods, especially mushrooms.