Department of Veterinary Medicine, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Brazil.
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil.
BMC Vet Res. 2020 May 15;16(1):139. doi: 10.1186/s12917-020-02348-w.
Metaldehyde is a toxic pesticide used mainly as a molluscicide, responsible for intoxication and deaths in both humans and animals. Accidental exposure to metaldehyde in dogs is considered rare, but severe. Data concerning clinical and veterinary forensic toxicology are largely incomplete, especially regarding case reports in dogs. The present work reports a complete and detailed description of a case from the history, clinical evolution, pathological exams and toxicological diagnosis in an accidental case of metaldehyde poisoning in dog.
An eleven-month-old, 3.0 kg, male German Spitz was presented for emergency care with acute vomiting and seizures 3 hours after suspected accidental ingestion of commercial molluscicide containing 3% metaldehyde (Lesmax®). The animal was in lateral recumbency and showed stuporous mentation, salivation, tonic-clonic status epilepticus, systemic tremors, bilateral miosis, absent palpebral, corneal, oculovestibular and gag reflexes, severely depressed spinal reflexes, dyspnea and tachycardia. Despite treatment, the patient progressed to comatose mentation and died. Necropsy examination revealed discrete lesions in the liver and central nervous system, while stomach examination revealed content of feed, activated charcoal and blue-green granules, compatible to the commercial formula of metaldehyde. Histology examination revealed extensive hemorrhage and severe centrolobular necrosis of the liver and tumefaction of Kupfer cells. Brain samples showed discrete hemorrhage and hyperemia. In order to confirm the diagnosis, samples from feces, stomach content, spleen, liver, heart, kidneys and brain were submitted gas chromatography analysis. Results confirmed the presence of metaldehyde in all samples. We describe clinicopathological abnormalities of a fatal case of metaldehyde poisoning in a dog, as well as postmortem diagnosis using gas chromatography.
Metaldehyde poisoning is rarely reported, since the diagnosis is often difficult and the notifications scarce. To our knowledge, this is the first report describing clinical signs, pathological findings and chromatographic diagnosis. This report aims to contribute to the understanding of the pathogenesis of metaldehyde intoxication, to further explore veterinary forensic toxicology diagnosis.
聚乙醛是一种主要用作杀螺剂的有毒农药，可导致人类和动物中毒和死亡。狗意外摄入聚乙醛被认为是罕见但严重的。关于临床和兽医法医毒理学的数据在很大程度上是不完整的，特别是关于狗的病例报告。本工作报告了一例完整和详细的病例，该病例来自历史、临床演变、病理检查和意外摄入含 3%聚乙醛（Lesmax®）商业杀螺剂的狗中毒的毒理学诊断。
一只 11 个月大、3.0 公斤的雄性德国牧羊犬因疑似意外摄入含有 3%聚乙醛的商业杀螺剂（Lesmax®）后 3 小时出现急性呕吐和癫痫发作而被紧急送往医院。动物呈侧卧姿势，表现出昏迷、流涎、强直-阵挛性癫痫持续状态、全身性震颤、双侧瞳孔缩小、闭眼、角膜、眼-前庭反射和咽反射消失、脊髓反射严重抑制、呼吸困难和心动过速。尽管进行了治疗，患者仍进展为昏迷状态并死亡。尸检检查发现肝脏和中枢神经系统有轻微病变，而胃部检查发现饲料、活性炭和蓝绿色颗粒的内容物，与聚乙醛的商业配方相符。组织学检查显示肝脏广泛出血和严重中央小叶坏死以及库普弗细胞肿胀。脑样本显示轻微出血和充血。为了确认诊断，从粪便、胃内容物、脾脏、肝脏、心脏、肾脏和大脑中提取样本进行气相色谱分析。结果证实所有样本中均存在聚乙醛。我们描述了一只狗因聚乙醛中毒致死的病例的临床病理异常，以及使用气相色谱法进行的死后诊断。
聚乙醛中毒很少见报道，因为诊断通常很困难，而且通报也很少。据我们所知，这是第一份描述临床症状、病理发现和色谱诊断的报告。本报告旨在帮助了解聚乙醛中毒的发病机制，进一步探索兽医法医毒理学诊断。
