A synopsis of the scorpion fauna of French Guiana, with description of four new species

Abstract

A synopsis is provided for all scorpion species collected in French Guiana, including thorough diagnoses and additional distributional records for each documented species. Four new species are also described in this paper (one Ananteris from northeastern Guiana, two Auyantepuia from central and northeastern Guiana and one Hadrurochactas from western Guiana), raising the total number of species described from French Guiana to 30. Most of the species are illustrated, geographical distribution maps are presented, and a key to the species is proposed.

Clinical Features and Management of Snakebite Envenoming in French Guiana

“…Acute kidney injury occurred in 15% of cases and required dialysis in 50% of them. These proportions are similar to those reported in the literature coming from the Amazon region [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ], where most of the cases are inflicted by Bothrops atrox , as in French Guiana. Infection was recorded in 32% of cases.…”

“…Unclottable blood is the most common hemostatic disorder followed by systemic bleeding. Local effects vary from local pain to edema, blistering, hemorrhage, and myonecrosis [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ] Systemic manifestations including bleeding, circulatory shock, and acute kidney injury have been strongly associated with fatal cases [ 1 , 5 ]. Additionally, severe local complications may be observed including necrosis, secondary infection and compartment syndrome [ 2 , 10 , 11 ].…”

“…Other laboratory tests, such as prothrombin time and partial thromboplastin time, are also used to follow up clotting alterations. In addition, snake venoms induce thrombocytopenia [ 6 ] and platelet hypo-aggregation. In our study, these disorders were recorded in most patients.…”

“…Systemic bleeding is one of the hallmarks of viperid snakebite envenomation, with unclottable blood and thrombocytopenia as its associated major risk factors [ 6 ]. It commonly arises in the case of microvascular damage by proteolytic degradation of the basement membrane [ 21 ].…”

“…It includes gingival bleeding, sub-conjunctival hemorrhage, hematuria, and, in severe cases, cerebral hemorrhage. Unclottable blood and thrombocytopenia on admission were independently associated with systemic bleeding during hospitalization [ 6 ]. In our study, systemic bleeding was recorded in 18% of cases independently of the severity of coagulation disorders.…”