Antioxidant Therapy of the Paraquat Intoxication.
- Author:
Woon Yong KWON
1
;
You Hwan JO
;
Hyoung Gon SONG
;
Myoung Chon KIM
;
Joong Eui RHEE
;
Gil Joon SUH
;
Yeo Kyu YOUN
Author Information
1. Department of Emergency Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Korea. kwy711@hanmail.net
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Antioxidant therapy;
Vitamin C;
Vitamin E;
Paraquat intoxication
- MeSH:
Animal Experimentation;
Ascorbic Acid;
Charcoal;
Emergency Service, Hospital;
Gastric Lavage;
Humans;
Paraquat*;
Seoul;
Survival Rate;
Vitamin E;
Vitamins
- From:Journal of the Korean Society of Emergency Medicine
2001;12(4):475-479
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Paraquat causes severe tissue toxicity when ingested, but has no effective treatment modality. We have shown that high dose vitamin C has effective antioxidant activities against the paraquat intoxication in a previous animal experiment. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of antioxidant therapy with high dose vitamin C and vitamin E in human cases of paraquat intoxication. METHODS: From August 1999 to August 2001, 19 paraquat intoxication patients who visited the emergency department of the Seoul National University Hospital and the Kyounghee University Hospital were enrolled to this study. They were devided into two groups, a control group(9 patients) and a study group(10 patients). The control group received only conservative managements including gastro-intestinal decontaminati-on. The study group received conservative managements plus the antioxidant therapy which was composed of vitamin C 24 gm/day intravenously and 20 gm/day orally, and vitamin E 1.6 gm/day orally. RESULTS: In the study group, 5 of 10 patients(50%) survived, but all patients of the control group died(p=0.003). There were no significant differences in age, sex, and usage of gastric lavage and activated charcoal between the two groups. Difference in ingested amount of paraquat between the two groups could not be analyzed due to the inexact and subjective measuring methods based on patients'histories. CONCLUSION: Antioxidant therapy with high dose vitamin C and vitamin E is effective in improving survival rate in paraquat intoxicated patients.
