Lead Toxicity due to Ingestion of Lead-Contaminated Opium in a Patient Presenting with Motor Neuropathy and Upper Limb Paresis: A case report

Journal Title: Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal - Year 2018, Vol 1, Issue 4

Abstract

Opium users may present with central or peripheral nervous system-related symptoms, gastrointestinal complications and anaemia; in such cases, lead poisoning should be suspected and chelation therapy initiated as soon as possible. We report a 64-year-old male patient with a 20-year history of opium addiction who was referred to the Imam Reza Hospital, Birjand, Iran, in 2017 with severe motor neuropathy and paresis in both upper limbs. His primary symptoms were generalised weakness, abdominal and bone pain, constipation and lower limb paraesthesia that had started several months prior. In addition, he reported severe progressive bilateral paresis of the upper limbs of one month’s duration. A diagnosis of lead poisoning was confirmed by a blood lead level of 140 μg/dL. The patient underwent chelation therapy after which he improved significantly. At a one-year follow-up visit, he was neurologically intact and symptom-free.

Authors and Affiliations

Seyed M. M. Mirzaei, Ayob Akbari, Omid Mehrpour, Nasim Zamani

Keywords

Related Articles

Reliability of the Emergency Severity Index Meta-analysis

Objectives: Although triage systems based on the Emergency Severity Index (ESI) have many advantages in terms of simplicity and clarity, previous research has questioned their reliability in practice. Terefore, the aim...

Thrombophilia and Recurrent Pregnancy Loss Is heparin still the drug of choice?

Te association between thrombophilia and recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) has become an undisputed fact. Torombophilia creates a hypercoaguable state which leads to arterial and/or venous thrombosis at the site of implan...

Delayed Treatment Response in a Neonate with Multisystem Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis Case report and review of literature

Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare proliferative disorder of the Langerhans cells, which are part of the mononuclear phagocytic system. Te disorder varies in terms of the extent of the disease, its natural c...

Download PDF file
  • EP ID EP37484
  • DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.18295/squmj.2018.18.04.017
  • Views 301
  • Downloads 0

How To Cite

Seyed M. M. Mirzaei, Ayob Akbari, Omid Mehrpour, Nasim Zamani (2018). Lead Toxicity due to Ingestion of Lead-Contaminated Opium in a Patient Presenting with Motor Neuropathy and Upper Limb Paresis: A case report. Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal, 1(4), -. https://europub.co.uk/articles/-A-37484