Citation

Jongthun R, Hemachudha P, Wacharapluesadee S, Hemachudha T. Trop. Doct. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Professor of Neurology, Chulalongkorn Hospital, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0049475519897704

PMID

31964279

Abstract

Amatoxin poisoning is the main cause of death from accidental ingestion of poisonous mushrooms and a mortality rate of 27.3% has been reported in Thailand. Symptoms of mushroom ingestion are often confused with food poisoning; thus, gastroenteritis is not recognised as the first phase of poisoning. Our study assessed the efficacy of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) as a treatment for amatoxin poisoning. We retrospectively analysed 74 medical records over 12 years. The majority (70/74) were treated successfully with NAC; death in the remaining 4 (5.4%) patients was attributed to late presentation in three and advanced alcoholic cirrhosis in one.

Language: en

Keywords

Amatoxin; Asia; hepatitis; treatment