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Objectives: 1) To evaluate the prognostic roles of quantitative CT and pulmonary function tests and 2) to assess the association of dynamic strain and ventilation heterogeneity during unassisted spontaneous breathing with 90-day survival in patients with paraquat poisoning.Design: Prospective study.Setting: A university hospital ICU.Patients: One-hundred spontaneously breathing patients with paraquat poisoning without mechanical ventilation.Interventions: A standardized treatment protocol.Measurements and Main Results: Blood samples were collected to measure the plasma paraquat concentration upon arrival. CT scans at suspended inspiration and pulmonary function tests were performed at day 5. The weight of the poorly aerated lung compartment as a percentage of total lung weight (%Wpoor) was exponentially transformed, generating a new variable, Exp(%Wpoor/15). The functional residual capacity that was determined by helium dilution was used to calculate the dynamic strain (tidal volume/functional residual capacity by helium dilution method). Respiratory system reactance at 5 Hz was used as a marker of ventilation heterogeneity. Exp(%Wpoor/15) (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.58; 95% CI, 2.021-3.296; p < 0.001) was most strongly associated with mortality, such that neither blood paraquat concentration nor PaO2 provided any additional prognostic information. The ratio of residual volume to total lung capacity as a percentage of the predicted value (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.041; 95% CI, 1.026-1.057; p < 0.001) was the only variable that added prognostic value to Exp(%Wpoor/15). While controlling for Exp(%Wpoor/15) and percentage of predicted residual volume/total lung capacity, increases in dynamic strain (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.041/0.1 U; 95% CI, 1.283-3.248; p = 0.003) and/or decreases in respiratory system reactance at 5 Hz (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.19/0.1 U; 95% CI, 1.03-1.386; p = 0.02) were independently associated with increased 90-day mortality.Conclusions: In patients with paraquat poisoning, Exp(%Wpoor/15) and percentage of residual volume/total lung capacity are independent prognostic indicators. Higher dynamic strain and increased ventilation heterogeneity during unassisted spontaneous breathing were associated with worsened survival independent of Exp(%Wpoor/15) and percentage of residual volume/total lung capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To investigate whether combined continuous venovenous hemofiltration and hemoperfusion among paraquat-poisoned patients would improve survival.Design: Prospective, controlled interventional study over 4 years.Setting: Single, tertiary, academic medical center.Patients: We recruited patients admitted to Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital within 48 hours after paraquat ingestion. Exclusions were under 14 years old, ingestion of paraquat with other toxicants, pregnant, a history of chronic pulmonary disease, psychosis, hyperthyroidism, or diabetes with impaired liver or renal function.Interventions: All patients were assigned to receive continuous venovenous hemofiltration with hemoperfusion therapy (continuous venovenous hemofiltration group) and to receive conventional therapy (conventional group). The study outcomes were death from any cause within 90 days after paraquat ingestion and the frequencies of hypoxia, acute kidney injury, or adverse events.Measurements and Main Results: Of the 110 enrolled patients, 59 were assigned to continuous venovenous hemofiltration group and 51 to conventional group. The two groups had similar baseline demographics and clinical features. At 90 days after paraquat ingestion, 19 of 59 patients (32.2%) in the continuous venovenous hemofiltration group and 29 of 51 patients (56.9%) in the conventional group had died (hazard ratio, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.24-0.76; p = 0.004). In multivariable Cox proportional hazard models controlling for baseline characteristics, combined continuous venovenous hemofiltration and hemoperfusion was independently associated with reduced risk of death compared with conventional therapy (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.19-0.64; p = 0.001). Patients in the continuous venovenous hemofiltration group, as compared to the conventional group, had a reduced occurrence rate of hypoxia (40.7% vs 72.5%; p = 0.001) and of acute kidney injury (59.3% vs 78.4%; p = 0.03). Hypophosphatemia and thrombocytopenia were more common in the continuous venovenous hemofiltration group (p < 0.05).Conclusions: In patients with paraquat poisoning, treatment with combined continuous venovenous hemofiltration and hemoperfusion significantly improved 90-day survival rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study where researchers tested imaging and functional predictors of 90-day mortality in 100 breathing patients with lung injury because of paraquat poisoning. Distribution of lung aeration on plasma paraquat levels, pulmonary function tests and quantitative computed tomography were obtained. The results of the study recommend that patients whose lungs are heterogeneously and poorly ventilated are at higher risk of a bad result, that was compounded by higher lung strain.

Paraquat (PQ) poisoning is associated with high mortality rate. Therefore, an accurate method for predicting the survival of patients with PQ poisoning is required. This study evaluated the value of serum anion gap (AG) at admission in predicting the survival of such patients.Cases of patients with PQ poisoning admitted to Cangzhou Central Hospital between May 2012 and March 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were classified into survival and nonsurvival groups on the basis of their 90-day prognosis. Correlation analysis, Cox regression analysis, and receiver operating characteristic and Kaplan-Meier curve analyses were performed to assess the value of AG in predicting the 90-day survival of patients with PQ poisoning.Only 44 of the 108 patients with PQ poisoning survived; thus, the 90-day survival was 40.74%. AG levels at admission were significantly higher in nonsurvivors (26.53 ± 4.93 mmol/L) than in survivors (20.88 ± 2.74 mmol/L) (P < .001) and negatively correlated with 90-day survival (r = -0.557; P < .001). Cox regression analysis revealed that AG at admission is an independent prognostic marker of the 90-day survival of patients with PQ poisoning. AG level at admission had an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.836 (95% confidence interval: 0.763-0.909) and an optimal cut-off value of 25.5 mmol/L (59.4% sensitivity and 95.5% specificity).AG level at admission may serve as a candidate marker for predicting the survival of patients with PQ poisoning.

Background: Severity index and plasma paraquat (PQ) concentration can predict the prognosis of patients with PQ poisoning. However, the better parameter is yet to be systematically investigated and determined. Thus, we conduct this systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the prognostic value of severity index and plasma PQ concentration in patients with PQ poisoning., Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and Cochrane Library to identify all relevant papers that were published up to March 2019. All diagnostic studies that compared severity index and plasma PQ concentration to predict mortality in patients with PQ poisoning were enrolled in this meta-analysis. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for individual trials were pooled using a random-effect model. We also aggregated heterogeneity testing, sensitivity analysis, and publication bias analysis., Results: Ultimately, seven studies involving 821 patients were included. The pooled OR with a 95% CI of severity index was 24.12 (95% CI: 9.34-62.34, P < .001), with an area under the curve of 0.88 (95% CI: 0.85-0.90), sensitivity of 0.84 (95% CI: 0.74-0.91), and specificity of 0.81 (95% CI: 0.75-0.87). Meanwhile, the pooled OR with 95% CI of plasma PQ concentration was 34.39 (95% CI: 14.69-80.56, P < .001), with an area under the curve of 0.94 (95% CI: 0.91-0.96), sensitivity of 0.86 (95% CI: 0.75-0.93), and specificity of 0.89 (95% CI: 0.76-0.95). Sensitivity analysis demonstrated the stability of the results of our meta-analysis. No significant publication bias was observed in this meta-analysis., Conclusion: Overall, this study indicated that severity index and plasma PQ concentration have relatively high-prognostic value in patients with PQ poisoning, and that the sensitivity and specificity of plasma PQ concentration are superior to those of severity index.

Rationale: Despite the fact that treatment of paraquat poisoning in pregnant women and their fetuses is challenging and raises ethical issues, it is rarely reported in the literature. We report the case of a pregnant woman who took paraquat intentionally., Patient Concerns: A 36-year-old woman at 38 weeks gestational age, in an apparent suicide attempt, drank 1 mouthful (about 20 ml) of paraquat solution. Ten hours later, her urine dithionate test showed light blue color with a plasma paraquat concentration of 0.547 μg/ml. Six hours after admission, a male infant, whose plasma paraquat concentration was 0.761 μg/ml, together with 0.673 μg/ml in the amniotic fluid measured by high-performance liquid chromatography, was delivered but the woman's lung, liver, and kidney function declined rapidly., Diagnosis: INTERVENTIONS:: Because of placenta previa and multiple organ failure, emergency cesarean section, and panhysterectomy were performed for the pregnant woman. Intravenous injection of antibiotic to prevent infection and dexamethasone 30 mg once a day were administered. Mechanical ventilation was performed for the infant and meropenem and penicillin injection was administered., Outcomes: The infant died 33 hours after birth while the mother died on the 3rd day after ingestion., Lessons: Paraquat can enter the fetus through the placenta and the amniotic fluid via fluid exchange. The pathological changes of fetal organs may relate to gestational age, and the prognosis was very poor in both the mother and the fetus.

This retrospective study aimed to investigate whether the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) can be used as an early predictor of 90-day survival in patients with acute paraquat (PQ) poisoning.This study enrolled 105 patients with acute PQ poisoning admitted from May 2012 to May 2018. Kaplan-Meier curve, receiver operating characteristic curve, and Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were used to investigate the predictive value of NLR for 90-day survival of patients with acute PQ poisoning.The 90-day survival rate was 40.95% (43/105). Survivors had lower NLR (P <.001), which was an independent predictor of 90-day survival according to the Cox proportional hazard regression analyses. The area under the NLR curve was 0.842 (95% CI: 0.767-0.917, P <.001) in predicting 90-day survival.Our findings showed that low NLR was a valuable early predictor of 90-day survival in patients with acute PQ poisoning.

Background: Although the prognostic significance of base excess (BE) in patients with paraquat (PQ) poisoning has been investigated for several years, the results remain controversial. Thus, we performed for the first time a comprehensive meta-analysis to explore the value of BE in predicting the prognosis of patients with PQ poisoning., Methods: We searched PubMed, EMBase, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Cochrane Library, and the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure to identify all relevant papers that were published up to August 2018. The data were extracted for pooled analysis, heterogeneity testing, sensitivity analysis, publication bias analysis, and subgroup analysis., Results: Pooled analysis revealed that a decreased BE is correlated with poor mortality (pooled OR = 21.358, 95% CI: 12.716-35.873, P < .001). Pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, and diagnostic odds ratio were 78% (95% CI: 0.66-0.86), 88% (95% CI: 0.66-0.97), 6.6 (95% CI: 2.2-19.9), 0.25 (95% CI: 0.18-0.36), and 26 (10-69), respectively. No publication bias was detected by Egger test (P = .263) and Begg test (P = .462). Sensitivity analyses indicated no important differences among the estimates of effects., Conclusion: Our findings show that BE is useful for predicting the prognosis of PQ poisoning.

To observe whether edaravone can protect organs and inhibit pulmonary fibrosis in patients with paraquat poisoning and to provide a method for clinical intervention for paraquat poisoning.Forty-four cases of paraquat poisoning were collected from March 2011 to December 2017 in our hospital. Eighteen cases from March 2011 to November 2013 did not receive edaravone treatment and were considered the control group, and 26 cases from January 2014 to December 2017 were treated with edaravone and were considered the observation group. Injuries to the central nervous system, heart, liver, kidney, and digestive system were evaluated on at 24 hours, 3 days, and 7 days after hospitalization. The expression of serum inflammatory factors (interleukin [IL]-6, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor-α [TNF-α]) and oxidative stress correlation (superoxide dismutase [SOD] and malondialdehyde [MDA]) were assayed at 24 hours, 3 days, and 7 days after being hospitalized. After 7, 14, and 30 days, the changes in pathological lung characteristics in the 2 groups were assessed, and survival rates were calculated.Edaravone significantly increased the serum levels of SOD and obviously markedly reduce the serum levels of IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α, and MDA in patients poisoned with paraquat (P < .05). Edaravone significantly protected the liver (P = .021), cardiovascular (P = .031), and renal (P = .028) organs of patients from paraquat poisoning-induced injury after 7 days but had no significant protection or improvement on respiratory and digestive tract damage. Edaravone delayed the occurrence of pulmonary fibrosis and increase the survival time of patients at 7 and 14 days (P < .05). However, the 1-month follow-up found that edaravone did not reduce pulmonary fibrosis (77.8% vs 73.1%, P = .615) and did not increase the survival rate of the patients (61.1% vs 65.3%, P = .853).Edaravone is beneficial for protecting the kidneys and liver from paraquat poisoning through reducing oxidative stress and inhibiting inflammatory response. It can also inhibit the pulmonary fibrosis process and prolong the survival time of the patients. However, no significant improvements were seen in the probability of pulmonary fibrosis and the survival rate.

This study aimed to investigate the prognostic predictive value of the platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in patients with acute paraquat (PQ) intoxication.A total of 107 patients with acute PQ intoxication via oral ingestion were admitted in Cangzhou Central Hospital from May 2012 to September 2018. Valuable detection indices were screened out by using Cox proportional hazard regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses, and their diagnostic efficiency was evaluated by using Kaplan-Meier curve.The 90-day mortality was 58.9% (63/107). The Kaplan-Meier curve showed that PLR was not associated with 90-day survival (log-rank test; P = .661). In Cox proportional hazard regression analyses, PLR was not an independent risk factor. Meanwhile, the ROC curves showed that PLR had an AUC value of 0.569 (95% confidence interval: 0.459-0.679, P = .227) in predicting 90-day survival.PLR is not a prognostic predictor for patients with acute PQ intoxication.

Rationale: Paraquat is a widely applied contact herbicide that is highly poisonous. About 20% of patients with paraquat poisoning develop pneumomediastinum as a complication with a mortality rate of almost 100%., Patient Concerns: A 15-year-old boy presented with a 1-month history of retrosternal chest pain with no obvious cause. High-resolution computed tomography showed pneumomediastinum., Diagnoses: After all likely causes of pneumomediastinum were eliminated, the diagnosis of occult paraquat poisoning was made when serum paraquat concentration was revealed at 467.40 ng/mL, despite the patient's denial of ingestion or contact., Interventions: Hemoperfusion, intravenous glucocorticoid, and ulinastatin was administered for 3 days with other routine treatment against paraquat poisoning. The serum paraquat concentration decreased to zero., Outcomes: Despite the general high mortality and poor prognosis of paraquat poisoning, the patient recovered and was completely asymptomatic at his 3-month follow-up., Lessons: Paraquat poisoning should be suspected as a differential diagnosis when patients present with pneumomediastinum without recognizable cause.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the effects of arterial lactate as a predictor of mortality in patients with paraquat (PQ) poisoning., Methods: The databases PubMed, EMBase, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Cochrane library, and studies published until 31 February 2018 were searched. The data were extracted to perform pooled analysis, heterogeneity testing, sensitivity analysis, publication bias analysis, and Fagan plot analysis., Results: Pooled analysis showed that a high arterial lactate was significantly correlated with poor mortality (pooled odds ratio = 16.94, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 7.96-36.08, P < .001). The pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, and diagnostic odds ratio were 77% (95% CI: 0.69-0.84), 84% (95% CI: 0.74-0.90), 4.7 (95% CI: 2.9-7.8), 0.28 (95% CI: 0.20-0.39), and 17 (8-36), respectively. An area under the curve of 0.87 (95% CI: 0.83-0.89) means a high ability for prognostic detection., Conclusion: Our findings show that arterial lactate is an effective predictor of mortality in patients with PQ poisoning.

Rationale: Paraquat, an agent highly toxic to humans and animals, is a widely used herbicide and also commonly used for suicide attempts in Taiwan. The most common route of intoxication is oral ingestion, and parenteral poisoning is respectively rare., Patient Concerns: A 39-year-old illicit abuser of heroin and amphetamine injected 0.5 mL of 24% paraquat directly into his right cephalic vein due to hallucination. The patient was brought to our emergency department for management 4 hours after injection. He was fully conscious and had normal vital signs. Systemic review showed mild dyspnea, abdominal pain and right wrist pain over the injection site. The only abnormal physical finding was erythema over the injection site and epigastric tenderness., Diagnosis: Laboratory investigations, including complete blood count, liver and renal function, and electrolytes initially yielded normal results. Urinalysis showed normal findings except a positive urine paraquat test (4+). The initial plasma paraquat concentration was 0.51 μg/mL., Interventions: He was admitted to the intensive care unit and underwent one session of charcoal hemoperfusion therapy. Acute kidney injury developed on the fourth day after intoxication, with the level of serum creatinine rising rapidly from 0.96 to 4.57 mg/dL and the daily urine output decreased noticeably from > 2000 to 900 mL. The serum creatinine level improved gradually with adequate fluid supplementation., Outcomes: The patient was discharged 13 days later in a stable condition., Lessons: Intravenous paraquat intoxication is rare. Patients who suffer from intravenous intoxication may not directly suffer from mucosal irritation, but the clinical onset of systemic effects is more immediate and lethal. The prognosis of paraquat poisoning is determined by the time of poisoning and the plasma paraquat concentration before treatment. Proudfoot's curve provides a simple method of predicting the survival rate. The most effective mode of management is extracorporeal therapy, and immunosuppressive or antioxidant therapies have shown insufficient evidence of benefit.

Lung dysfunction is an important characteristic of injury induced by paraquat (PQ). This study aimed to evaluate the effects of prolonged low-dose methylprednisolone (MP) treatment on lung function in patients with mild PQ poisoning. We analyzed the results of lung function testing in all patients with mild PQ poisoning admitted to Cangzhou Central Hospital between January 2012 and August 2017. Patients were grouped according to short-term treatment (3 mg/kg/day MP for 3 days) or prolonged treatment (3 mg/kg/day MP for 3 days, followed by dosage reduction by half every 3 days, with treatment terminated when a dosage of 0.375 mg/kg/day was reached). Lung function was evaluated at 2 to 3 months after PQ exposure. The forced expiratory volume in 1 second (85.72 ± 4.93% vs 78.41 ± 4.58%; P < .001), forced vital capacity (81.98 ± 4.93% vs 77.85 ± 4.37%; P < .001), and diffusing capacity (84.27 ± 5.16% vs 76.21 ± 3.71%; P < .001) in the prolonged low-dose MP group were improved compared with those in the short-term MP group. Patients with mild PQ poisoning treated with prolonged low-dose MP had better lung function 2 to 3 months after PQ poisoning.

Paraquat is a nonselective contact herbicide of great toxicological importance, being associated with high mortality rates. Because of its high toxicity, the European Union withdrew it from its market in 2007. The aim of this study is to analyze all cases of paraquat poisoning hospitalized in French Guiana in order to assess their incidence and main characteristics.Medical records of all paraquat intoxicated patients hospitalized from 2008 until 2015 were reviewed in this retrospective study.Demographics, clinical presentation, and laboratory data were evaluated.A total of 62 cases were reviewed. The incidence of paraquat poisoning was 3.8/100,000 inhabitants/year. There were 44 adults and 18 children younger than 16 years of age. The median ages were 31 years [18.08-75.25] in adults and 13.4 years [0.75-15.08] in children, respectively. The median duration of hospitalization was longer in children [15.5 days (1-24)] than in adults [2 days (1-30)], P < .01. The majority of cases was due to self-poisoning (84%).Children had ingested a lower quantity of paraquat [48.8 mg/kg (10-571.1)] than adults [595.8 mg/kg (6-3636.4), P = .03]. There were more deaths among adults (65%) than in children (22%), P = .004. The severity and outcome was determined primarily by the amount of paraquat ingested.In conclusion, French Guiana has the largest cohort of paraquat poisonings in the European Union. The major factor affecting the prognosis of patients was the ingested amount of paraquat. The administration of activated charcoal or Pemba, in situ, within the first hour after ingestion of paraquat is essential.

Objectives: To investigate whether combined continuous venovenous hemofiltration and hemoperfusion among paraquat-poisoned patients would improve survival., Design: Prospective, controlled interventional study over 4 years., Setting: Single, tertiary, academic medical center., Patients: We recruited patients admitted to Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital within 48 hours after paraquat ingestion. Exclusions were under 14 years old, ingestion of paraquat with other toxicants, pregnant, a history of chronic pulmonary disease, psychosis, hyperthyroidism, or diabetes with impaired liver or renal function., Interventions: All patients were assigned to receive continuous venovenous hemofiltration with hemoperfusion therapy (continuous venovenous hemofiltration group) and to receive conventional therapy (conventional group). The study outcomes were death from any cause within 90 days after paraquat ingestion and the frequencies of hypoxia, acute kidney injury, or adverse events., Measurements and Main Results: Of the 110 enrolled patients, 59 were assigned to continuous venovenous hemofiltration group and 51 to conventional group. The two groups had similar baseline demographics and clinical features. At 90 days after paraquat ingestion, 19 of 59 patients (32.2%) in the continuous venovenous hemofiltration group and 29 of 51 patients (56.9%) in the conventional group had died (hazard ratio, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.24-0.76; p = 0.004). In multivariable Cox proportional hazard models controlling for baseline characteristics, combined continuous venovenous hemofiltration and hemoperfusion was independently associated with reduced risk of death compared with conventional therapy (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.19-0.64; p = 0.001). Patients in the continuous venovenous hemofiltration group, as compared to the conventional group, had a reduced occurrence rate of hypoxia (40.7% vs 72.5%; p = 0.001) and of acute kidney injury (59.3% vs 78.4%; p = 0.03). Hypophosphatemia and thrombocytopenia were more common in the continuous venovenous hemofiltration group (p < 0.05)., Conclusions: In patients with paraquat poisoning, treatment with combined continuous venovenous hemofiltration and hemoperfusion significantly improved 90-day survival rates.

Background: The Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score is used to determine disease severity and predict outcomes in critically ill patients. However, the prognostic significance of APACHE after acute paraquat (PQ) poisoning remains unclear. The meta-analysis was aimed to study the value of APACHE II in predicting mortality in PQ-exposed Chinese and Korean patients., Methods: Databases that included PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure were searched through August 2016. Studies using APACHE II to predict mortality in PQ-poisoned patients were selected. The odds ratio and weighted mean difference (WMD) were used to pool binary and continuous data. Additionally, we aggregated sensitivity, specificity, and other measures of accuracy. Statistical analyses were made using the Stata V.13.0 software., Results: This study included 29 studies, and 25 studies evaluated APACHE II scores on admission. Pooled data showed that survivors had significantly lower total scores than nonsurvivors (WMD = -7.29, and I = 98.2%, both P <.05). The pooled sensitivity of an APACHE II score ≥5 for predicting mortality was 75% and the pooled specificity was 86%. The positive likelihood ratio (PLR) was 5.3 and the negative likelihood ratio (NLR) was 0.29. The pooled sensitivity of an APACHE II score ≥10 for predicting mortality was 88% and the pooled specificity was 84%. The pooled PLR and NLR was 5.5 and 0.15, respectively., Conclusion: This study showed PQ-poisoned nonsurvivors had significantly higher APACHE II score than did survivors. APACHE II scores satisfactorily predicted mortality.

This retrospective study aims to evaluate the effect of prolonged methylprednisolone (MP) therapy on the mortality of patients with moderate-to-severe paraquat (PQ) poisoning after the pulse treatment.We performed a retrospective analysis of patients with acute moderate-to-severe PQ poisoning that were admitted to the emergency department from May 2012 to August 2016. Out of 138 patients, 60 were treated with pulse treatment (15 mg kg day MP for 3 days) and 78 were treated with prolonged MP therapy after pulse treatment (15 mg kg day MP for 3 days; afterward, the dosage was reduced in half every 2 days, and the MP therapy was terminated until 0.47 mg kg day). Kaplan-Meier method was used to compare the mortality between the 2 groups. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate the hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).The mortality of the prolonged MP therapy after pulse treatment group was lower than that of the pulse group (47.4% vs 63.3%; log-rank tests, P  =  .003). According to the multivariate Cox analysis, the prolonged MP therapy after pulse treatment was significantly associated with a lower mortality risk (HR: 0.31, 95% CI: 0.19-0.52, P < .001) compared with the pulse group. In addition, the prolonged MP therapy after pulse treatment caused more incidences of leucopenia than the pulse treatment alone (25.6% vs 11.7%, P  =  .04).The prolonged MP therapy after pulse treatment can reduce the mortality of moderate-to-severe PQ poisoning patients.

Background: Paraquat (PQ) poisoning is a widespread occurrence, especially in underdeveloped areas. The treatment of PQ poisoning has always been difficult, and there is currently no definite effective treatment. Continuous venovenous hemofiltration (CVVH) treatment for PQ poisoning has been widely used in clinical practice; however, its effect remains uncertain. Accordingly, the purpose of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the efficacy of CVVH in the treatment of PQ poisoning., Methods: We searched for relevant trials using PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and 3 Chinese databases, the Chinese BioMedical Literature Database, National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, and Wanfang Database. We included all qualified randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of CVVH treatment for patients with PQ poisoning. The primary outcome was mortality, while the secondary outcomes included the survival time and constituent ratios of death due to respiratory failure and circulatory failure., Results: Three RCTs involving 290 patients were included. The mortality rates of the intervention and control groups were 57.9% and 61.0%, respectively. Pooled analysis demonstrated no significant difference in mortality between the CVVH treatment and control groups (risk ratio [RR] 0.94, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.78-1.15, P = .56), with a low level of heterogeneity (X = 1.75, I = 0%). However, the CVVH group was associated with a longer survival time compared to the control group (weighted mean difference 1.73, 95% CI: 0.56-2.90, P = .004). Respiratory failure as the cause of death was more common in the CVVH group, as compared with the control group (RR 1.66, 95% CI: 1.24-2.23, P = .0008), whereas patients in the control group were more likely to die from circulatory failure than in the CVVH group (RR 0.56, 95% CI: 0.40-0.81, P = .002)., Conclusion: Although CVVH treatment might not noticeably reduce mortality for patients with PQ poisoning, it can prolong the survival time of the patients and improve the stability of the circulatory system, thereby enabling further treatment.

Paraquat poisoning is very severe. Most victims, including those who have ingested a small amount, will die from Paraquat poisoning. The cause of death in the majority of such cases is lung fibrosis. Paraquat poisoning in patients with positive human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection status has seldom been reported. Herein, we report a case of an HIV patient with Paraquat poisoning who had an excellent outcome even without standard treatment. Currently, only 3 such cases have been reported in the literature and in each case there was a good outcome, which was not expected according to predictive models. A possible mechanism may involve the relative lack of functional macrophages in HIV patients, which would tend to result in much less severe lung injury. None of the available predictive models of Paraquat poisoning appear to be appropriate for HIV patients.Paraquat poisoning in HIV patients may have better survival due to less lung injury., Competing Interests: The authors have no funding and conflicts of interest to disclose.

Many prognostic indictors have been studied to evaluate the prognosis of paraquat poisoning. However, the optimal indicator remains unclear. To determine the value of the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score, the Severity Index of Paraquat Poisoning (SIPP), and serum lactate levels in the prognosis of paraquat poisoning, we performed a prospective study that enrolled 143 paraquat patients. Data were collected from patients (161) at West China Hospital in Chengdu, China, including details about the patients' general conditions, laboratory examinations, and treatment. Receiver operating characteristic curves for predicting inpatient mortality based on APACHE II score, SIPP, and lactate levels were generated. To analyze the best cutoff values for lactate levels, APACHE II scores, and SIPP in predicting the prognosis of paraquat poisoning, the initial parameters on admission and 7-day survival curves of patients with lactate levels greater than or equal to 2.95 mmol/L, APACHE II score greater than or equal to 15.22, and SIPP greater than or equal to 5.50 h · mg/L at the time of arrival at West China Hospital were compared using the 1-way analysis of variance and the log-rank test. The APACHE II score (5.45 [3.67] vs 11.29 [4.31]), SIPP (2.78 [1.89] vs 7.63 [2.46] h · mg/L), and lactate level (2.78 [1.89] vs 7.63 [2.46] mmol/L) were significantly lower in survivors (77) after oral ingestion of paraquat, compared with nonsurvivors (66). The APACHE II score, SIPP, and lactate level had different areas under the curve (0.847, 0.789, and 0.916, respectively) and accuracy (0.64, 0.84, and 0.89, respectively). Respiratory rate, serum creatinine level, Paco2, and mortality rate at 7 days after admission in patients with lactate levels greater than or equal to 2.95 mmol/L were markedly different compared with those of other patients (P < 0.05). The predictive value of lactic acid was superior to that of APACHE II score and SIPP for acute oral paraquat poisoning.

We described and analyzed the treatment process of an HIV-positive patient with severe paraquat (PQ) poisoning. A 34-year-old man ingested about 50 mL of a 20% solution of PQ in a suicide attempt. He was treated with gastric lavage, oral administration of adsorbent, and symptomatic treatments at the local hospital, and was transferred to our emergency department. Ten hours after the exposure, the concentration of plasma PQ was 2.17 mg/L and was substantially above the survival limits of the severity index for PQ poisoning (SIPP) curve (0.30 mg/L). The equation produced by Jones et al (Jones AL, Elton R, Flanagan R. Multiple logistic regression analysis of plasma paraquat concentrations as a predictor of outcome in 375 cases of paraquat poisoning. QJM. 1999:92;573-578) predicted a 20.5% probability of survival at admission. Unfortunately, the patient was diagnosed as HIV infected, and CD4 lymphocyte count also confirmed that the patient was in a state of mild suppression of immunological function. Immediately, the patient received normative immunosuppressive therapy and hemoperfusion (HP). On the 15th day after poisoning, the patient recovered well and was discharged. All along, the evolution of the patient's status was in accordance with the characteristics of PQ poisoning, but the extent and duration of damage was mismatching and drastically alleviative by the previous biological indices. The particular case of treatment may be indirectly supporting the effectiveness of immunosuppressive therapy in treating patients with PQ poisoning.

Objective: This observational study examined the outcome of Taiwanese pediatric patients with paraquat poisoning and compared these data with the published data on paraquat poisonings from other international poisoning centers., Methods: We performed a retrospective study on children with acute paraquat poisoning that were admitted to the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital during a period of 10 years (2000-2010). Of the 193 paraquat poisoning patients, only 6 were children., Results: The mean age was 8.85 ± 5.55 (1-15.6) years. Younger patients had accidentally swallowed paraquat, whereas older patients had intentionally ingested paraquat. Most patients were referred within a relatively short period (0.5-2.0 hours). Paraquat poisoning was associated with high morbidity and often resulted in severe complications, including acute respiratory distress syndrome and multiple-organ failure. The complications included shock (50.0%), hypoxemia (33.3%), respiratory failure (33.3%), nausea/vomiting (16.7%), abdominal pain (33.3%), hepatitis (66.7%), gastrointestinal tract bleeding (33.3%), acute renal failure (33.3%), and seizures (16.7%). Patients were treated aggressively with a standard detoxification protocol consisting of gastric lavage, active charcoal, charcoal hemoperfusion, and cyclophosphamide and steroid pulse therapies. Secondary bacterial infections were common after hospitalization and included sepsis (33.3%), pneumonia (33.3%), and urinary tract infection (50.0%). In the end, 2 patients (33.3%) died from multiple-organ failure, despite intensive resuscitation., Conclusions: Our data (mortality rate, 33.3%) are comparable to the data of other published reports from other international poison centers. Evidently, a prompt diagnosis of paraquat poisoning and an immediate institution of a detoxification protocol is a prerequisite for a favorable outcome.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess whether high-dose paraquat exposure was associated with the development of parkinsonism., Methods: We carried out a systematic review of all published cases of paraquat toxicity meeting a case-definition of paraquat poisoning and who either recovered or lived for at least 30 days (primary analysis) or lived for 15 to 30 days (secondary analysis). Cases were included if they contained sufficient information to determine whether they had signs of parkinsonism., Results: Our search yielded 818 publications containing 83 cases. The primary analysis yielded 70 cases. None manifested signs of parkinsonism. An additional 13 were in the secondary analysis and none exhibited signs of parkinsonism., Conclusion: An analysis the world's entire published experience found no connection between high-dose paraquat exposure in humans and the development of parkinsonism.

When properly used, paraquat (PQ) is a widely used bipyridil herbicide with a good safety record. Most cases of PQ poisoning result from intentional ingestion, with death resulting from hypoxemia secondary to lung fibrosis in moderate to severe poisonings. With high ingestion volumes (>50 mL of a 20% wt/vol formulation), death results from multiple organ failure and cardiovascular collapse within 1 week after intoxication. The present report describes a successful clinical case regarding the intoxication of a 15-year-old girl by a presumed lethal dose of PQ. The adolescent ingested approximately 50 mL of a commercialized concentrate (20% wt/vol of dichloride salt) formulation of PQ. High serum and urinary levels of PQ confirmed the bad prognosis. However, the therapeutic protocol followed in the present clinical case led to a positive outcome. Besides the measures for decreasing PQ absorption and increasing its elimination, other protective procedures were applied in aiming to reduce the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), to scavenge ROS, to repair ROS-induced lesions, and to reduce inflammation. The status-of-the-art concerning the biochemical and toxicological aspects of PQ poisoning and the pharmacologic basis of the respective treatment is also presented.

A young homosexual male presented to the emergency department with respiratory distress, oropharyngeal candidiasis, hypoxaemia, and renal failure. Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia was considered to be the likely diagnosis - until 24 h later when the patient divulged the true history of paraquat ingestion some 5 days previously. Ingestion of corrosives should be considered in patients with oropharyngeal candidiasis and pneumonic symptoms, especially in the presence of renal failure as an alternative to HIV infection.

Objective: Paraquat is widely used in the world, and all treatments for paraquat poisoning have been unsuccessful. Many patients have died of paraquat poisoning in developing countries. A novel anti-inflammation method was developed to treat severe paraquat-poisoned patients with >50% to <90% predictive mortality: initial pulse therapy with methylprednisolone (1 g/day for 3 days) and cyclophosphamide (15 mg/kg/day for 2 days), followed by dexamethasone 20 mg/day until Pao2 was >11.5 kPa (80 mm Hg) and repeated pulse therapy with methylprednisolone (1 g/day for 3 days) and cyclophosphamide (15 mg/kg/day for 1 day), which was repeated if Pao2 was <8.64 kPa (60 mm Hg)., Design: Randomized controlled trial., Setting: Academic medical center in Taiwan., Patients: Twenty-three paraquat-poisoned patients with >50% and <90% predictive mortality assessed by plasma paraquat levels were prospectively and randomly assigned to the control and study groups at a proportion of 1:2., Interventions: The control group received conventional therapy and the study group received the novel repeated pulse treatment with long-term steroid therapy., Measurements and Main Results: We measured patient mortality during the study period. There was not a different distribution of basal variables between the two study groups. The mortality rate (85.7%, six of seven) of the control group was higher than that of the study group (31.3%, five of 16; p = .0272)., Conclusions: The novel anti-inflammatory therapy reduces the mortality rate for patients with severe paraquat poisoning.

Objective: To report a severe case of paraquat poisoning successfully treated with repeated-pulse therapy of methylprednisolone., Design: Case study., Setting: University Hospital, Lin-Kou Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China., Patients: A 60-yr-old man with paraquat poisoning with severe acute renal failure (serum creatinine level of 11.8 mg/dL and serum paraquat level of 3.66 microg/mL at 10 hrs after ingestion) and severe hypoxemia (Pao2, 66.6 mm Hg)., Intervention: Repeated 3-day pulse therapy with methylprednisolone, one course of 2-day cyclophosphamide, and a high dose of dexamethasone for 33 days. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN OUTCOME: Arterial blood gas analysis was obtained regularly. A chest radiography was obtained every week. The arterial blood oxygen concentrations dramatically elevated from 66 mm Hg to 97 mm Hg, and the chest radiographs markedly improved after repeated-pulse therapy with anti-inflammatory agents and cyclophosphamide., Conclusions: We successfully treated a severe paraquat poisoned patient with repeated methylprednisolone pulse therapy and prolonged dexamethasone treatment. This case demonstrates that the severe inflammation, not the fibrosis, of the lungs plays a major role in the lethal hypoxemia of patients with paraquat poisoning during the subacute period and confirms our previous hypotheses. Clearly, the use of anti-inflammatory therapy to treat paraquat-poisoned patients needs further evaluation; however, anti-inflammatory therapy may be an effective treatment after failure of standard therapies.

Between January 1993 and July 1996, a total of 2827 intentional cases of poisoning were registered in the University Hospitals of Leuven, Belgium. Ten of these cases were fatal. This study was set up to evaluate the substances involved, the circumstances, the features and the characteristics of the patients who died due to intentional poisoning. The male to female ratio of these fatal cases was 9 : 1. The median age was 43 years. Two groups of substances were revealed to be associated with fatal outcome. The first group consisted of chemicals (seven lethal cases): cholinesterase inhibitors ( =3), methanol ( =2) and paraquat ( =2). The second group consisted of benzodiazepines (three lethal cases). In the cases of poisoning with chemicals, death was directly related to product toxicity and the severity of the poisoning, whilst with benzodiazepines, which are considered to be relatively safe drugs even when taken in overdose, there was a clear relationship between a fatal outcome and a delay between ingestion and medical support. Product toxicity, complications and a delay in medical support may be considered as predictors for the effectiveness and efficacy of treatment and may influence which medical treatments need to be administered.

Paraquat is a bipyridyl compound widely used as a contact herbicide. Since its introduction in 1962, hundreds of deaths have occurred, usually after suicidal or accidental ingestion. Death after dermal absorption of paraquat is uncommon, but has occurred after either contact with undiluted paraquat, disruption of skin integrity, or prolonged exposure. It is the purpose of this case report to describe a patient who had fatal dermal paraquat absorption after a crop-dusting accident in which he sustained 37% TBSA burns. After 9.5 hours of cutaneous exposure, a paraquat level of 0.169 mg/ml was obtained at 20 hours, the standard lethal dose at 16 hours being 0.16 mg/ml. In light of the apparently irreversible pathophysiology of paraquat poisoning with plasma levels as low as 3 mg/L, prevention and early intervention are the best treatments. Our patient may have survived an otherwise routine thermal injury had his wounds been aggressively irrigated in the field.

Objective: To investigate the hemodynamics and oxygen metabolism of patients with varying degrees of severity of paraquat poisoning., Design: Prospective, observational, clinical study., Setting: Intensive care unit in a university hospital., Patients: Forty-three consecutive patients with paraquat and/or diquat poisoning were classified into three groups by the severity index of paraquat poisoning (SIPP; hr/mg/L)., Interventions: Standard treatments included specific respiratory management, fluid resuscitation, and aggressive circulatory support., Measurements and Main Results: Serum paraquat and diquat levels were measured at arrival, and SIPP was calculated. The cardiac index (CI), left ventricular stroke work index (LVSWI), systemic vascular resistance index (SVRI), oxygen delivery index (DO2I), oxygen consumption index (VO2I), and oxygen extraction ratio (O2ER) were measured at 6, 12, 24, 36, 48, 72, and 96 hrs postadmission. A significant inverse correlation between SIPP and survival time was found in 31 fatal cases (r = .85; p < .001). In the SIPP 10-50 group, CI, DO2I, VO2I, and O2ER were maintained at higher levels than in the SIPP group of <10 (p < .05), whereas SVRI decreased significantly (p < .05). In the SIPP group of >50, CI, LVSWI, SVRI, DO2I, and VO2I decreased, whereas O2ER had a tendency to increase progressively. There was a significant correlation between SVRI and SIPP, O2ER and SIPP, and O2ER and SVRI 24 hrs after admission, respectively (p < .001)., Conclusions: Paraquat poisoning is characterized by high oxygen consumption with high oxygen extraction, with the degree of derangement based on the severity index. The development of a marked imbalance between increased oxygen demand and decreased oxygen supply because of myocardial depression might be a possible cause of death in circulatory failure.

Severe acute lung injury frequently develops after poisoning by paraquat, and respiratory failure is the major cause of death in patients surviving more than 2 days after ingestion. We describe a 17-year-old man with confirmed paraquat intoxication by lung and muscle biopsy, in whom single-lung transplantation was performed 44 days after poisoning for end-stage lung disease. The patient was discharged from the hospital 122 days after ingestion of paraquat and 88 days after lung transplantation. Before 1996, repeated lung transplantation had been performed for patients with terminal respiratory insufficiency due to paraquat toxicity, but all died. This patient survived probably because transplantation was performed very late after paraquat ingestion.

The determination of homicidal poisoning due to the oral administration of paraquat presents a unique challenge for both the clinician and the pathologist. Reported are four cases of homicidal paraquat poisoning, three leading to conviction and one possible, but unproved case. This study illustrates that intentional paraquat poisoning is not generally considered, even when physicians are faced with an atypical clinical course for inflammatory disease. The mechanism of action and symptoms of paraquat poisoning are presented, guidelines for when to suspect paraquat are given, and recommendations for treatment are outlined.

Interstitial pulmonary emphysema (IPE) is the initial manifestation of ventilator-induced barotrauma. We report two patients in whom computed tomography was useful in showing IPE.

Paraquat and diquat were shown to interfere significantly in the measurement of plasma creatinine by the alkaline picrate (Jaffé) reaction in a young man who ingested a massive dose of a mixture of the 2 herbicides. It is likely that these bipyridylium compounds react in a manner similar but at different rates compared with creatinine in the Jaffé reaction.

The authors describe the SEM ultrastructural aspects of rat lungs following acute paraquat poisoning. The results obtained confirmed previous TEM observations and suggest an early inhibition of secretory activity in type II alveolar cells. This morphological aspect can be related to the generally known early development of respiratory difficulties following acute paraquat poisoning. The technique employed allows a precise study of alveolar reepithelization in further stages of poisoning. These last observations agree with the hypothesis of reepithelization by type II alveolar cells.

Fifty-six cases of paraquat poisoning were examined during the 8 years 1977-1984. The ratio of cases of accidental to intentional ingestion of the poison was 1:1; 23.2% of the total (13/56) survived several months or years. In 1983, 11 subjects accidentally drank 10-30 ml of gramoxone; eight of 11 died in 2 weeks. Toxicological investigations demonstrated rapid elimination of poison from the blood, as well as prolonged fixation of paraquat in the lung, kidney, liver, and spleen tissues. Histological examinations showed multiorgan failure from renal tubular necrosis and pulmonary hemorrhage with alveolar epithelial injury. Pulmonary proliferative changes were present in only two cases who survived 7 and 10 days and in which artificial ventilation was utilized.

The effect of ventilation by high-frequency oscillation (HFO) on gas exchange in the abnormal lung is not well defined. In this study the efficiency of oxygenation by HFO (stroke volume 2.5 to 3.5 ml/kg, frequency 15 to 30 Hz) and by conventional mechanical ventilation (CMV) (tidal volume 15 to 20 ml/kg, frequency 8 to 15 breath/min) was compared in dogs with acute lung injury. Sixteen normal animals were studied under general anesthesia (halothane) on day 0 (control) and then injected intraperitoneally with 10 mg/kg of paraquat in divided doses over 3 consecutive days. Eight dogs were restudied on day 4 (moderate lung injury) and the other eight dogs on day 8 (more severe lung injury). With acute lung injury there was a progressive decrease in total lung capacity, decrease in lung compliance, and hypoxemia. In the moderate lung injury group, at equal alveolar ventilation, HFO resulted in a significant improvement in oxygenation (PaO2 95 to 104 torr) with a corresponding increase in mean lung volume when compared with CMV. In the severe lung injury animals, there were no significant differences in oxygenation or in mean lung volume between HFO and CMV.