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Zinc toxicity from massive and prolonged coin ingestion in an adult
Zinc toxicity from massive and prolonged coin ingestion in an adult
- Source :
- The American journal of the medical sciences. 336(5)
- Publication Year :
- 2008
-
Abstract
- Acquired copper deficiency anemia is rare in humans. This report describes a 38-year-old schizophrenic man with metal pica, especially coins, who presented with symptomatic anemia. Two hundred seventy-five coins were surgically removed from the gastrointestinal tract of this patient during the course of his hospitalization. Some of the post-1981 pennies, which consist primarily of zinc, showed severe corrosion because of their prolonged contact with acidic gastric juice. The patient presented with clinical manifestations consistent with the local corrosive as well as the systemic effects of zinc intoxication. His treatment and outcome are presented. The effects of zinc intoxication on hematologic and other organ systems and on copper absorption are discussed.
- Subjects :
- Male
medicine.medical_specialty
Anemia
chemistry.chemical_element
Zinc
medicine.disease_cause
Gastroenterology
Numismatics
Internal medicine
medicine
Ingestion
Humans
Pica (disorder)
Gastrointestinal tract
business.industry
General Medicine
Middle Aged
medicine.disease
Foreign Bodies
Surgery
Gastrointestinal Tract
chemistry
Zinc toxicity
Toxicity
Pica
Schizophrenia
medicine.symptom
business
Copper deficiency
Copper
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 00029629
- Volume :
- 336
- Issue :
- 5
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- The American journal of the medical sciences
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....ed0f1ba0e83ff9cba95070e5864cae2f