title: Ophthalmic findings in acute mercury poisoning in adults: A case series study.
abstract: The aim of this study is to report ophthalmic findings of acute mercury poisoning in 48 adults referred to emergency department. Full ophthalmologic examination including the best corrected visual acuity, external eye examination, reaction to light, a slit-lamp examination, funduscopy, intraocular pressure measurements, and visual field (VF) and color vision (CV) tests were performed at the presentation and repeated after 6 months. The parametric values of VF test, the mean deviation (MD), and pattern standard deviation (PSD) were recorded in order to compare patients and the 30 healthy controls. The mean parameter of color confusion index in patients was found to be statistically different than controls (p < 0.01). The MD and PSD in patients were different from controls statistically significant (p < 0.01 and p < 0.01, respectively). There was no correlation between the ocular findings and the urine and blood mercury levels. Methyl mercury, held in the school laboratory for experimental purpose, may be a source of poisoning. In this case series, we showed that acute exposure to mercury had hazardous effect on the visual system, especially CV and VF. We propose that emphasizing the public education on the potential hazards of mercury is crucial for preventive community health.
authors.affiliation: KSU Medical Faculty, Kahramanmaras, Turkey lokaslan46@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Lokman
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Aslan
authors.affiliation: KSU Medical Faculty, Kahramanmaras, Turkey.
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aslankurt
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Kahramanmaras Sutcuimam University, Kahramanmaras, Turkey.
authors.forename: Selim
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bozkurt
authors.affiliation: KSU Medical Faculty, Kahramanmaras, Turkey.
authors.forename: Adnan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aksoy
authors.affiliation: KSU Medical Faculty, Kahramanmaras, Turkey.
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ozdemir
authors.affiliation: KSU Medical Faculty, Kahramanmaras, Turkey.
authors.forename: Harun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gizir
authors.affiliation: KSU Medical Faculty, Kahramanmaras, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yasar
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D055253:Color Vision; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007429:Intraocular Pressure; D008297:Male; D008630:Mercury Poisoning / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology* / Q000652:urine; D008875:Middle Aged; D019721:Ophthalmoscopes; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced*; D014787:Vision Tests / Q000379:methods*; D014792:Visual Acuity; D014794:Visual Fields
keywords: Mercury poisoning; ophthalmological findings; public health