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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Wisteria floribunda (W. floribunda) is a vine commonly found in Korea, Japan, and US. The objective of this observational study is to assess the toxicity of W. floribunda seed in young children.
METHODS: Of 28 children in a kindergarten who participated in a field trip, seven ingested W. floribunda seeds, six half of the seed and one a whole seed. These seven children were admitted to the Gachon University Gil Medical Center [Incheon, Korea].
RESULTS: All of the children had vomiting within the four hours of ingesting the W. floribunda seed; the child who ingested a whole seed began to vomit two hours after ingestion. By five hours after ingestion, they all complained of abdominal pain and one child was lethargic. Leukocytosis was observed in all children. Abdominal pain and vomiting subsided in all of the children within two days after admission. The average duration of hospitalization was 3.1 days.
CONCLUSIONS: W. floribunda seed ingestion induced gastrointestinal and neurologic symptoms in these young children. Given that the onset of vomiting was earlier in the child who ingested a whole seed than the children who had ingested only a half, the amount of ingested seeds can be speculated to be associated with the severity of the symptoms. Ingestion of a half of a raw W. floribunda seed can cause gastrointestinal symptoms in young children and even result in hospitalization. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Language: en |