Amin-zaki L, Majeed M A, Clarkson T W, Greenwood M R
Br Med J. 1978 Mar 11;1(6113):613-6. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.6113.613.
The clinical features of 49 children who had eaten bread contaminated with methylmercury in rural Iraq were reviewed. Symptoms and signs relating to the nervous system--varying degrees of ataxia, weakness, and visual and sensory changes--dominated the clinical picture. The severity of poisoning was related to the blood mercury concentration, as was the degree of recovery. Follow-up over two years showed that children who had had mild or moderate poisoning slowly but steadily improved, some of them recovering normal function, though all had a residual generalized hyperreflexia. In some patients ataxia and motor weakness disappeared. Visual changes also improved, though less completely, and of 17 blind children, only five had recovered partial sight by the end of two years. Seven of the 18 children who suffered very severe poisoning were left physically and mentally incapacitated. The degree of clinical progress shown by these children was better than that shown by some other groups of patients, possibly because the poisoning was relatively acute and mercury consumption was stopped immediately after its effects had become obvious.
对伊拉克农村49名食用了被甲基汞污染面包的儿童的临床特征进行了回顾。与神经系统相关的症状和体征——不同程度的共济失调、虚弱以及视觉和感觉变化——主导了临床症状。中毒的严重程度与血液汞浓度相关，恢复程度也与之相关。两年的随访显示，轻度或中度中毒的儿童缓慢但稳步地好转，其中一些恢复了正常功能，尽管所有人都有残留的全身性反射亢进。一些患者的共济失调和运动无力消失。视觉变化也有所改善，但不太完全，17名失明儿童中，到两年结束时只有5名恢复了部分视力。18名重度中毒儿童中有7名身心功能丧失。这些儿童所表现出的临床进展程度比其他一些患者群体要好，这可能是因为中毒相对急性，且在汞中毒影响明显后立即停止了汞摄入。
