Acute endosulfan poisoning: a retrospective study

Endosulfan is a widely used insecticide that is associated with a high fatality rate in humans when ingested accidentally or with the aim of suicide. However, the literature concerning human endosulfan exposure is limited to case reports. Thus, we sought to 1) describe the clinical features of patients with acute endosulfan poisoning and 2) identify independent factors to predict patients’ outcome. Fifty-two patients who presented with acute endosulfan poisoning between January 2001 and January 2007 were enrolled in this retrospective study. Sixteen (30.7%) of the 52 patients died, and 48 patients experienced seizures. Endosulfan poisoning caused the hypotension and the abnormalities on electrocardiogram at presentation. Over half of the patients developed complications, such as rhabdomyolysis, hepatic toxicity, and hypotension. These complications resolved without sequelae in the survival group. Refractory status epilepticus was the most common cause of death in this series (75.0%). Amount ingested being greater than 35 g of endosulfan was the most found to be an independent variable that predicted patient mortality. Patients with this risk factor must be treated aggressively during the early stage of endosulfan poisoning.