Acute mercury poisoning with severe chronic pulmonary manifestations.
This report describes a patient who developed acute chemical pneumonitis following overexposure to metal mercury vapor. The exposure occurred in a gold extraction facility where a gold-mercury amalgam was heated in a confined area. Prompt treatment with penicillamine and corticosteroids was instituted; radiologic pulmonary infiltrates disappeared within a week, but there was little change in the pulmonary function abnormalities (restriction and diffusion impairment) over the period of 11 months of follow-up. This raises the possibility of persistent pulmonary function impairment after metal mercury vapor-induced chemical pneumonitis.
D000328:Adult; D006046:Gold / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008297:Male; D008630:Mercury Poisoning / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D008669:Metallurgy; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D011859:Radiography
D006046:Gold