Accidental choke-cherry poisoning: early symptoms and neurological sequelae of an unusual case of cyanide intoxication.
We report the case of a 56-year-old woman who was accidentally poisoned when she ingested choke cherries whose pulp contained cyanide, and describe the acute clinical picture, the neurological sequelae and the neuroradiological findings. After recovery from coma, the patient showed signs of a parkinsonian syndrome, retrobulbar neuritis and sensory-motor neuropathy. MRI showed abnormal signal intensities involving the basal ganglia. Since no memory deficits were observed, we argue that the parkinsonian syndrome was caused by cyanide intoxication rather than by subcortical damage due to hypoxia.
Pentore
R
R
Clinica Neurologica, Università di Modena, Italy.
Venneri
A
A
Nichelli
P
P
D000678:Amygdalin / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000506:poisoning*; D001919:Bradycardia / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000628:therapy; D002304:Cardiac Pacing, Artificial; D003128:Coma / Q000139:chemically induced; D003486:Cyanides / Q000378:metabolism / Q000506:poisoning*; D004579:Electron Transport; D005260:Female; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry / Q000506:poisoning*; D006801:Humans; D002534:Hypoxia, Brain / Q000139:chemically induced*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010302:Parkinson Disease, Secondary / Q000139:chemically induced*; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced
D003486:Cyanides; D000678:Amygdalin