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Mucormycosis is an opportunistic fungal infection involving among others the paranasal sinuses, nasal fossa and brain parenchyma. Mucor can invade the brain parenchyma by either contiguous spread from the paranasal sinuses or through vascular invasion. We report a case of fatal rhino-cerebral mucormycosis in whom cytotoxic edema at magnetic resonance diffusion-weighted imaging was symmetrically restricted to both neocortical and paleocortical primary areas of olfactory projection at earliest phase of the disease process. Shortly later tissue damage extended into the whole brain. This undescribed observation raised the hypothesis of preferential way of brain invasion by Mucor through the olfactory tract.

Resume De nouveaux medicaments anti-epileptiques sont apparus ces dernieres annees. Les anti-epileptiques demeurent des substances frequemment utilisees lors des tentatives de suicide medicamenteuses. Les donnees recueillies par les centres antipoison nord-americains indiquent que la mortalite et la morbidite demeurent elevees avec les molecules anti-epileptiques de la generation anterieure, en particulier avec l’acide valproique. L’objectif de cette courte revue est de presenter le profil de securite de sept anti-epileptiques recents : topiramate, vigabatrin, tiagabine, gabapentine, levetiracetam, felbamate, lamotrigine et oxcarbazepine. Il decoule des observations isolees ou des rares series publiees que les intoxications aigues par les anti-epileptiques de nouvelles generations s’accompagnent d’une mortalite et d’une morbidite extremement basses. Comme prevu, une depression du systeme nerveux central de courte duree a ete frequemment observee. Cependant, seul un faible nombre de patients a du beneficier d’une ventilation artificielle. Des crises d’epilepsie sont occasionnellement decrites. Une toxicite cardiovasculaire significative n’a ete rapportee a ce jour que dans quelques observations. Le traitement de ces intoxications est essentiellement symptomatique.

To avoid accidental poisoning, pesticides must be handled according to prescribed rules. Furthermore, the exact composition of the pesticide formulation should be known. Cases of acute poisoning usually occur by ingestion and less frequently by the other routes. Symptoms may appear immediately but sometimes they can appear later and/or be more prolonged giving rise to delayed death and/or delayed morbidity. Acute poisoning by raticides and by organophosphate insecticides should deserve all our attention. Poisoning by herbicides containing chlorate salts, oxidative phosphorylation uncouplers or bipyridilium derivatives may be particularly dangerous. The ingestion of Paraquat, in particular, which is a veritable lesional poison, could be beyond all therapeutic resources. Language: en

A particularly severe case of Guillain-Barré syndrome occurring during pregnancy is reported. The therapeutic approach including plasmapheresis, ventilation, analgesia, sedation, metabolic requirements and heparin therapy is discussed with the consequences on foetal development and the early days of life.

Presents a case study of a massive oral exposure to hexavalent chromium in which there was demonstrable toxic effects seen on the proximal renal tubule that remained limited. Initial treatment of the medical condition; Main manifestations of hexavalent chromium toxicity; Results of the early administration of ascorbic acid and N-acetylcysteine.

Cardiac arrhythmias and circulatory collapse account for the high mortality reported after severe chloroquine poisoning. We have recently observed a 17-year-old man who ingested an 8 g chloroquine overdose. Cardiac arrest occurred within 1 h. Cardiogenic shock was refractory to epinephrine, dopamine and molar sodium lactate. Amrinone, a bipyridine analog, was then successfully used to improve haemodynamic conditions.