Didem Ay

Acute mercury poisoning: a case report

BackgroundMercury poisoning can occur as a result of occupational hazard or suicide attempt. This article presents a 36-year-old case admitted to emergency department (ED) due to exposure to metallic mercury.Case PresentatıonA 36-year-old woman presented to the ED with a three-day history of abdominal pain, diarrhea and fever. One week ago her daughter had brought mercury in the liquid form from the school. She had put it on the heating stove. One day later, her 14-month old sister baby got fever and died before admission to the hospital. Her blood pressure was 134/87 mmHg; temperature, 40.2°C; heart rate 105 bpm and regular; respiration, 18 bpm; O2 saturation, 96%. Nothing was remarkable on examination and routine laboratory tests. As serine or urinary mercury levels could not be tested in the city, symptomatic chelation treatment with N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) was instituted with regard to presumptive diagnosis and history. At the 7th day of admission she was discharged without any sequelae or complaint. At the discharge day blood was drawn and sent for mercury levels which turned out to be 30 μg/dL (normal range: 0 - 10 μg/dL).ConclusionPublic education on poisoning and the potential hazards of mercury are of vital importance for community health.

A rare clinic presentation of abdominal pain: rupture of splenic artery aneurysm: a case report.

BackgroundSplenic artery aneurysms (SAA) are uncommon but the most common visceral artery aneurysm. Splenic artery aneurysms are important to recognize because up to 25% may be complicated by rupture and the mortality rate after rupture is between 25% and 70%.Case reportWe present a patient who have abdominal pain. Previously healthy 22-year-old female admitted to emergency department with abdominal pain. Her physical examination reveals only left upper quadrant tenderness. Suddenly she developed hypovolemic shock. On emergent laparotomy massive blood collection within peritoneal cavity and retroperitoneal space at the left upper quadrant was detected. The source of bleeding was evident as rupture of splenic artery aneurysm. Splenectomy was performed following the ligation of splenic artery proximal to lesion. On the tenth day she was discharged from the hospital with complete recovery.ConclusionIt is important to remember rupture of splenic artery aneurysm in patients with abdominal pain and hypovolemic shock status.

Acute aortic dissection with painless paraplegia: report of 2 cases

Acute aortic dissection is often a life-threatening event that usually presents as a sudden, severe, exquisitely painful, ripping sensation in the chest or back. There are a few reports of atypical findings or no pain in the literature. We report 2 patients with painless acute aortic dissection who presented to the emergency department (ED) with sudden onset paraplegia.

Patient population and factors determining length of stay in adult ED of a Turkish University Medical Center

This study is designed to analyze retrospectively patients who present to adult emergency department (ED) from January 1, 2002, to February 28, 2002. Age, sex, presentation time to ED, length of stay in emergency service, consultations, the number of patients who need to be hospitalized and also the number of hospitalized patients, diagnosis categories, and discharge instructions are analyzed. It is found that patients in most admissions are at 21 to 25 years of age. At night, the number of visits is decreased. Hospitalizations could be done to only about half of patients who in fact should be hospitalized. There is a correlation between the length of stay of patients in emergency service and the number of consultations per patient. There is also a correlation between patient complexity and length of stay in emergency service. The ED overcrowding rises with increased visits and patients staying in ED who should be hospitalized.

Iatrogenic water intoxication after pelvic ultrasonography imaging.

Ultrasound (US) is a simple, easily accessible, and noninvasive method. Thus, it is commonly used. The bladder should be sufficiently filled to acquire pelvic images by US. This report describes water poisoning in 3 patients with no hepatic, cardiac, or renal disease. Both patients had a history of excessive fluid intake.

An unusual cause of allergy: Case report of normal saline solution allergy.

Anaphylaxis and acute allergic reactions may sometimes be fatal. They occur within minutes in a sensitized individual. So quick diagnosis and management are necessary issues. In the literature, cases are widely reported against allergens found in drugs, foods and their additives, radiocontrast material, bee stings, and many other materials. Here, we present a 37-year-old woman who developed an anaphylactic reaction to normal saline infusion during evaluation for her acute abdominal pain. We found only one report about normal saline allergy in the literature (Litvin ME, Shemchuck AS, Lisetskii VA. Anaphylactic shock caused by intravenous injection of isotonic solution of sodium chloride. Klin Khir 1976;(7):59-61).

Rare and Emergency Gastric Bleeding Cause – Dieulafoy's Lesion

Gastrointestinal bleeding is among the most common causes of emergency admissions. Having high mortality rates, high diagnosis and treatment costs, this condition constitutes a clinical problem that requires a multidisciplinary approach. Extra-varicose bleeding of the upper gastrointestinal system has still been frequent and it usually stops spontaneously. However, recurrent bleeding is the most important cause of mortality and morbidity. (Erickson & Glick, 1986; Rivkin & Lyakhovetskiy, 2005; Pfau et al., 2004) Any remarkable cause could not be demonstrated in approximately 4-9% of massive upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage. (Cotton et al., 1973; Palmer, 1969). Bleeding and anemia might be associated with gastrointestinal vascular malformations. Some epidemiological studies suggest that symptomatic vascular anomalies may be present in approximately 1/10000 individuals (Hodgson et al., 2001). Dieulafoys lesion is a rarely found vascular malformation in symptomatic vascular anomalies group of disease. It is commonly located in the proximal aspect of the stomach. Dieulafoys lesion constitutes 1% to 5.8% of nonvariceal bleeds and is more common in men than in women (2:1) (Garg, 2007). Pathogenesis is still unknown, but it is assumed that it might be a congenital lesion (Regula et al.,2008). The typical lesion is generally located in the submucosa and described as a large tortuous vessel and a small defect in the overlying mucosal surface (Ekci et al., 2010; Vats et al., 2006). (Fig 1 & 2 & 3). In 1884, Gallard first described this lesion, but it was attributed to a French surgeon Dieulafoy in literature (Alva et al., 2006). This medical condition usually presents with a large tortuous arteriole in the stomach wall that erodes and bleeds. In addition, this lesion is generally located at the lesser curvature of the stomach within 6 to 10 cm of the esophagogastric junction (Stojakov et al., 2007). It consists of a single large tortuous arteriole that does not exert normal branching or has a branch 1–5 mm in diameter(Fig 2 & 3). This size is more than the normal diameter of mucosal capillaries. The most common location of the lesion is the body of stomach, followed by the cardia and the esophagus, but they have also been reported in the esophagus, small and large bowel (Ekci et al., 2010; Turan et al., 2008). This condition is commonly seen in elder males (Schmulewitz & Baillie, 2001; Stark et al, 1992). Large majority of patients having Dieulafoys lesion might present with comorbidity