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Saturday, September 13, 2003A 9 year old boy presented to his local hospital with a three week history of abdominal pain, constipation, lethargy, limb pain, and unsteadiness. Physical examination showed mild facial weakness, areflexia, ataxia, and impaired sensation and led to a provisional diagnosis of Guillaine-Barré syndrome. The boy's constant restlessness was considered strange, but his mother described him as hyperactive and regarded this behaviour as normal. It was noted, however, that his handwriting and schoolwork had deteriorated over the preceding month. ...Three months before presentation, our patient had dismantled the sphygmomanometer in his bedroomspilling mercury on his bed and carpet and had played with it for a day or two before informing his mother. Attempts had been made to dispose of the mercury by vacuuming, and then by flushing it down the toilet. The suspected diagnosis of mercury poisoning was confirmed by the finding of a serum mercury concentration of 1000 nmol/l (normal reference value <30 nmol/l). Mea culpa posted by Sydney on 9/13/2003 03:04:00 PM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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