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[A cardiac lesion secondary to paraquat]
R Póvoa1, F M Maciel, J M Orlando
1Hospital Municipal Dr. Arthur Ribeiro de Saboya, SP.
Purpose:
To evaluate cardiac alterations secondary to exogenous intoxication by paraquat.
Methods:
We performed analysis of clinical and laboratory data of 25 patients with acute paraquat poisoning admitted in our ICU from November 1983 to January 1991.
Results:
There were purposeful overdoses in 24 cases (96%). The mortality rate was 56%. The lung involvement was 96%, renal was 92%, gastrointestinal tract was 72%, hepatic was 56%, and cardiac involvement was 40%.
Conclusion:
Cardiac involvement due to paraquat is frequent (40%). The clinical picture of this involvement has a wide spectrum, ranging from minimal changes in the ECG to acute and extensive myocardial necrosis.