Paraquat poisoning

A high-resolution CT scan of the thorax was performed, which showed areas of bilateral ground-glass opacities along with patchy fibrosis, predominantly in the lower lobes. (figure 2 and video 1) The patient was put on mechanical ventilation for progressive hypoxemia. High-resolution CT scan of the thorax showing areas of bilateral ground-glass opacities along with patchy fibrosis, predominantly in the lower lobes. The mode of poisoning is usually suicidal or accidental; and it should always be suspected in cases of corrosive oral and oesophageal ulcerations along with features of hepatic, renal or pulmonary involvement.3 Paraquat is incompletely absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and mainly exerts its toxicity through production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which causes cell damage by several mechanisms, such as mitochondrial toxicity, lipid peroxidation, oxidation of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), activation of nuclear factor kappa B and apoptosis.4 It targets both type I and II pneumocytes in the lung, leading to acute alveolitis.