title: Two cases of methemoglobinaemia caused by suspected sodium nitrite poisoning.
abstract: Among the causes of acute methemoglobinaemia are the ingestion and inhalation of over 40 oxidising substances, including nitrite, nitrate, carbon monoxide, some medicines, chlorine. The authors describe a case of acute methemoglobinaemia in two people that most probably suffered from food poisoning resulting from the consumption of a preparation of a dish called turkey alla canzanese that contained significant amounts of sodium nitrite. Both subjects who were treated promptly with methylene blue and hyperbaric oxygen therapy room recovered fully. Epidemiological investigations performed to clarify the dynamics of the episode suggested that among the causes of contamination were the swapping of products at the time of sale and the non-compliance to rules for the preparation of foods for human consumption.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise G. Caporale, Via Campo Boario, Teramo, Italy. o.matteucci@izs.it
authors.forename: Osvaldo
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Matteucci
authors.forename: Gianfranco
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Diletti
authors.forename: Vincenza
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Prencipe
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Di Giannatale
authors.forename: Maria Maddalena
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Marconi
authors.forename: Giacomo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Migliorati