The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics 2019 , Vol 61 , Num 5
Elemental mercury intoxication in 7 patients admitted to a pediatric rheumatology clinic
Ayşenur Paç Kısaarslan 1 ,Betül Sözeri 2 ,Funda Baştuğ 3 ,Zübeyde Gündüz 4 ,Sibel Yel 5 ,Hülya Nalçacıoğlu 3 ,Nihal Şahin 4 ,Sümeyra Özdemir Çiçek 4 ,Hakan Poyrazoğlu 4 ,Ruhan Düşünsel 4
1 Departments of Pediatric Rheumatology, Health Sciences University Kayseri Education and Research Hospital, Kayseri
2 Department of Pediatric Rheumatology, Health Sciences University, Umraniye Education and Research Hospital
3 Nephrology, Health Sciences University Kayseri Education and Research Hospital, Kayseri
4 Departments of Pediatric Rheumatology, Erciyes University Faculty of Medicine, Kayseri, Turkey
5 Departments of Pediatric Nephrology, Erciyes University Faculty of Medicine, Kayseri, Turkey
DOI : 10.24953/turkjped.2019.05.021 Paç Kısaarslan A, Sözeri B, Baştuğ F, Gündüz Z, Yel S, Nalçacıoğlu H, Şahin N, Özdemir Çiçek S, Poyrazoğlu H, Düşünsel R. Elemental mercury intoxication in 7 patients admitted to a pediatric rheumatology clinic. Turk J Pediatr 2019; 61: 786-790.

Mercury (Hg) is a toxic heavy metal that can be classified into three groups; organic (methyl), inorganic (mercuric), and elemental (metallic) mercury(Hg0). Mercury intoxication occurs mostly with the elemental form which can potentially damage the function of any organ, or any subcellular structure. The target organ of mercury is the brain, but peripheral nerve function, renal function, immune function, endocrine and muscle function, and several types of dermatitis have been described. We present 7 patients admitted to a pediatric rheumatology clinic with severe extremity pain. One of the patients had acrodynia, two of them had hypertension, two of them had tubulopathy, and three of them had neuropathy. The treatments were Dimercaptosuccinic acid and metalcaptase. In this report, we emphasize that mercury intoxication should be kept in mind with unexplained extremity pain. Timely diagnosis and treatment may prevent severe morbidity and mortality. Keywords : mercury, intoxication, pain

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