Atatürk University, School of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology, Erzurum, Turkey.
Erzurum Region Education and Research Hospital, Department of Hematology, Erzurum, Turkey.
Turk J Haematol. 2012 Mar;29(1):76-9. doi: 10.5152/tjh.2011.16. Epub 2012 Mar 5.
Environmental pollution exposes humans to toxic substances. Herein we present 5 family members aged20-54 years that were poisoned by liquid mercury.
Case 1 presented to our clinic with cough, fever, and night sweats. The patient had neutropenia, anemia,and pneumonia, rapidly developed acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and died on day 4 of hospitalization.Her WBC count was 0.4 × 10³ mm-3 (normal range: 4.3-10.3 × 103 mm-3) and Hb was 10.8 g dL-1 (normal range: 11.5-16.0 g dL-1). Case 2 presented with bicytopenia; the leukocyte count was 1.3 × 103 mm-3 (normal range: 4.3-10.3 × 103mm-3) and the PLT count was 88 × 103 mm-3 (normal range: 150-400 × 103 mm-3). Cases 2 and 3 had toxic peripheralneuropathy. The PLT count in case 3 was 123 × 103 mm-3 (normal range: 150-400 × 103 mm-3). Cases 4 and 5 presentedwith fatigue and headache; these 2 patients did not have positive findings, apart from high levels of mercury in theblood. We have written informed consent.
We think that heavy metal exposure-although rare-should be considered in patients that present withnumerous symptoms involving multiple systems, including the cardiovascular, respiratory, and neurological systems.The present report is unique in that in describes mercury poisoning in 5 members of the same family.
环境污染使人类接触到有毒物质。本文报告了 5 名年龄在 20-54 岁之间的家庭成员因液态汞中毒的病例。
病例 1 因咳嗽、发热和夜间盗汗到我院就诊。患者中性粒细胞减少、贫血和肺炎，迅速发展为急性呼吸窘迫综合征（ARDS），并于住院第 4 天死亡。白细胞计数为 0.4×10³mm-3（正常范围：4.3-10.3×103mm-3），血红蛋白为 10.8 g dL-1（正常范围：11.5-16.0 g dL-1）。病例 2 表现为双系血细胞减少症；白细胞计数为 1.3×103mm-3（正常范围：4.3-10.3×103mm-3），血小板计数为 88×103mm-3（正常范围：150-400×103mm-3）。病例 2 和 3 有中毒性周围神经病。病例 3 的血小板计数为 123×103mm-3（正常范围：150-400×103mm-3）。病例 4 和 5 表现为疲劳和头痛；除血液中汞含量高外，这 2 名患者没有其他阳性发现。我们已获得知情同意。
我们认为，对于出现心血管、呼吸和神经系统等多个系统多种症状的患者，尽管罕见，但应考虑重金属暴露。本报告的独特之处在于描述了同一家庭的 5 名成员发生汞中毒。
