Medical image of the week: Elemental mercury poisoning

No abstract available. Article truncated at 150 words. A 34-year-old woman presented to the Emergency department with abdominal pain after ingestion of an unknown liquid that family felt might be poisonous. The patient had a past history of prior suicide attempts, as well as a history of polysubstan...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Boivin M
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Arizona Thoracic Society 2018-05-01
Series:Southwest Journal of Pulmonary and Critical Care
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.swjpcc.com/imaging/2018/5/30/medical-image-of-the-week-elemental-mercury-poisoning.html
Description
Summary:No abstract available. Article truncated at 150 words. A 34-year-old woman presented to the Emergency department with abdominal pain after ingestion of an unknown liquid that family felt might be poisonous. The patient had a past history of prior suicide attempts, as well as a history of polysubstance and alcohol abuse. The patient was confused, tangential and a difficult historian. The patient had a heart rate of 72, was normotensive, and had an oxygen saturation of 100% on room air. She was confused and answered questions intermittently. The remainder of her physical examination including her neurological exam was normal. The initial serum chemistry, anion gap, lactate, liver function tests were normal. Urine drug screen was positive for benzodiazepines, for which the patient was prescribed. An abdominal x-ray was performed showing a radiopaque substance in the abdomen (Figure 1A). It was eventually determined she ingested elemental mercury. Blood levels were elevated, and she did eventually have hematochezia. Colonoscopy was …
ISSN:2160-6773