Clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of patients with metallic mercury poisoning
Hu Danfeng
Liu Shengping
Li Yan
Abstract：Objective To analyze the clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of patients with metallic mercury poisoning,so as to improve the level of clinical diagnosis and treatment.Methods A retrospective study was conducted.A total of 190 patients with metallic mercury poisoning admitted to the Third People's Hospital of Hefei from January 2020 to January 2024 were selected.Their clinical data were analyzed.Eighty patients with chronic metallic mercury poisoning were selected and divided into a control group and an observation group,with 40 cases in each group.The control group underwent mercury displacement treatment with penicillamine while the observation group underwent mercury displacement treatment with sodium dimercaptopropane sulfonate.Therapeutic effects and outcomes were analyzed.Results The majority of the 190 patients were female,with an average age of(45.54±8.09)years.There were 180 cases of occupational exposure poisoning,including 170 cases from thermometer manufacturers and 10 cases from gilding industry.There were 10 cases of non-occupational poisoning,including 8 cases poisoned by inhalation through the skin after using cosmetics and 2 cases poisoned by inhalation through the skin after using mercury-containing folk prescriptions.15 patients had acute poisoning.175 patients had chronic poisoning.After treatment,urine mercury levels in both groups were reduced,and urine mercury level in the observation group was lower than that in the control group(t=28.284,P<0.001).Clinical symptoms of all patients were significantly improved after treatment.Conclusion For patients with metallic mercury poisoning,detailed clinical manifestations and contact routes should be inquired about to reduce the occurrence of misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis.Besides,condition evaluation and mercury displacement treatment(dimercaptopropane sulfonate as the first choice)should be carried out actively after confirmed diagnosis to improve clinical symptoms and reduce target-organ damage.
Keywords：Metallic mercury poisoningClinical characteristicTreatmentOutcome
Publication Date：2025-02-27
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：3( 123-125 )