Amanita poisoning: a clinical-histopathological study of 64 cases of intoxication.

In the last few years new and effective therapeutic schedules have been employed in the treatment of patients intoxicated by mushrooms of the genus Amanita. As a result, the survival rate has considerably increased and clinical-histopathological correlation studies, such as the present one, have become feasible. The fate of these patients was once wrongly considered to be either complete recovery (rarely) or death (frequently). According to the results of the present study, Amanita intoxication can also progress to chronic liver damage. This latter evolution of the disease seems to depend on the severity of the acute phase of the intoxication, as clinical, laboratory and biopsy findings of liver alteration testify. The correct evaluation of evolving liver damage involves histopathological investigations, which should be performed 6 months after the acute episode, in those patients who overcome a moderate to severe acute intoxication.