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VOLUME 17 , ISSUE 3 ( June, 2013 ) > List of Articles

CASE REPORT

Paraquat - A deadly poison: Report of a case and review

Kavitha Saravu, Sonal Sekhar, Ananth Pai, Ananthakrishna Shastry Barkur, V. Rajesh, Jagadeswara Rao Earla

Keywords : Acute respiratory distress syndrome, case study, clinical toxicology, herbicide, paraquat, pesticide poisoning

Citation Information : Saravu K, Sekhar S, Pai A, Barkur AS, Rajesh V, Earla JR. Paraquat - A deadly poison: Report of a case and review. Indian J Crit Care Med 2013; 17 (3):182-184.

DOI: 10.4103/0972-5229.117074

License: CC BY-ND 3.0

Published Online: 01-06-2014

Copyright Statement:  Copyright © 2013; The Author(s).


Abstract

Paraquat is a bipyridilium herbicide used widely in our country and is a highly toxic compound. A 16-year-old female patient was admitted to the emergency department of our tertiary care hospital in South India with the history of alleged consumption of paraquat poison. Since there is dearth of high quality evidence- based treatment for this poisoning, different treatment modalities have been tried to manage patient′s condition. In this case, none of the strategies could work well. Most of the patients reported with paraquat intoxication are from agricultural background; usually such patients cannot afford the treatment expenses. This paper presents a fatal case of acute poisoning with paraquat who succumbed to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).


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