title: Lack of clinical symptoms in an acute arsenic poisoning: an unusual case.
abstract: A 32-y-old woman was admitted to Granada University Hospital for attempted suicide by ingestion of an ant-killer containing 10% sodium arsenate and 5% pyrethrins. Neither gastrointestinal distress nor hepatic, renal, or neurologic disturbances were clinically observed. However, the presence of toxic levels of arsenic (14 mg/L) was confirmed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry in a sample of urine taken about 12 h after poisoning. An uneventful clinical course was observed, and the patient was discharged after 6 days upon her request. Long-term follow-up was unavailable. From a Medline search over the years 1985-1998 only one similar report also dealing with sodium arsenate was found. Different pathogenic hypotheses are discussed in the light of the clinical data.
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine and Toxicology Service, University Hospital, University of Granada School of Medicine, Spain.
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Hernandez
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schiaffino
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Ballesteros
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gil
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pla
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Villanueva
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001151:Arsenic / Q000652:urine; D020261:Arsenic Poisoning; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011041:Poisoning / Q000473:pathology* / Q000652:urine; D011042:Poisons / Q000652:urine; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic; D013406:Suicide, Attempted; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016482:Urinalysis
chemical_list: D011042:Poisons; D001151:Arsenic