Aetiology of acute lead encephalopathy in Omani infants.

Twenty-five Omani infants were admitted with acute lead encephalopathy. They ranged in age from 1 to 8 months with the majority less than 4 months old. The source of poisoning in 20 infants (80 per cent) proved to be a local medication called bint al dahab. In a further three infants (12 per cent) there was a strong recent history of administration of a local medication, but the agent could not be identified with certainty. As with older children acute lead encephalopathy has serious consequences and in this series only 44 per cent of infants were thought to be neurologically normal at the time of discharge. The administration of lead containing medications to young infants in Oman is a significant preventable cause of morbidity and mortality having implications, in particular, for physicians involved in the care of Arabic communities. In any infant presenting with an unexplained encephalopathy the diagnosis of lead poisoning should be considered.