Arsenic poisoning

There is household arsenic poisoning when eating grain poisoned with arsenic pesticides, or rain water flowing from roofs painted with Paris green. There are also cases of arsenic poisoning for the treatment of some arsenic drugs, such as salvarsanom by intravenous or endolumbal introduction.

By its nature, arsenic poisoning can be acute, subacute and chronic. Entering the body through the upper respiratory tract or the food channel, arsenic deposited in parenchymatous organs, and then selecting from the body for a long time.

Arsenic is a heavy defeat for the liver, kidneys, heart, blood vessels.

Acute arsenic poisoning

When ingested inside – metallic taste, burning and dryness of the mouth, difficulty and pain when swallowing appear within 30 minutes or several hours.

Gastrointestinal disorders are identified in any way of arsenic proceed: cramps in the abdomen, accompanied by profuse sweat, nausea, vomiting, which can become ungovernable, diarrhea, feces in the form of a rice broth with an admixture of blood

The loss of fluids leads to dehydration and a dramatic loss of salt. Patients complain of increasing weakness, headache, dizziness. Falling body temperature and blood pressure as a result of vascular collapse. Often there is periorbital edema, heart disarethmy, visual impairment.

Myocardial dysfunction can be up to the shock. May be skeletal muscle cramps, oliguria, proteinuria, hematuria, coma.

After 8-15 days of illness, there appears sharp pain in the extremities, paresthesias, paresis, with a predominant lesion extension, trophic disorders. Paralytic form of poisoning is a sharp weakness, drowsiness, severe headaches, dizziness, decline of cardiac activity, convulsions, coma.

Death occurs from paralysis of respiratory and vascular-motor centers. A survivor is a heavy diffuse lesion of nervous system in the form of toxic encephalopathy (disturbance of speech, coordination of movements, epileptiform convulsions, weakening of memory, psychoses), entcephalomyeloneuropathy. Arsenic poisoning has expressed pain syndrome, the prevalence of symmetrical development of paralysis, amyotrophia, development of secondary contractures, in violation of muscular-articular sensitivity.

Chronic arsenic poisoning

Neuropathy – the distinguishing feature of chronic arsenic poisoning (symmetric, sensory-motor type). A feature of arsenic polyneuritis an earlier disturbance sensitivity of distal divisions of the hands and feet, spontaneous pain, paresthesia, hyperpathia.

May develop muscle atrophy, paralysis, paresis, ataxia. There are visual and auditory neuritis nerves, vestibular disorder, breach of bone conduction. Polyneuritis characterized by positive radicular symptoms and signs of lesions of lateral and anterior horns of the spinal cord.

There is also encephalopathy – a violation of the memory, speech, psychosis. Often, the blood system suffers: anemia, reduced hemoglobin, leukopenia with marked neutropenia, eosinophilia,

In bone marrow hyperplasia of red germ. May develop chronic hepatitis, myocardiodystrophy, pericarditis, toxic renal failure.

Arsenic poisoning should be suspected in anyone with the combination of the following symptoms: nervous, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and respiratory disorders; hemolytic deviations, skin lesions, a violation of the functional status of the liver and kidneys.