Mercury Toxicity: A Family Case Report

Background: Environmental pollution exposes humans to toxic substances. Herein we present 5 family members aged20-54 years that were poisoned by liquid mercury. Case Reports: Case 1 presented to our clinic with cough, fever, and night sweats. The patient had neutropenia, anemia,and pneumonia, rapidly developed acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and died on day 4 of hospitalization.Her WBC count was 0.4 × 10³ mm-3 (normal range: 4.3-10.3 × 103 mm-3) and Hb was 10.8 g dL–1 (normal range: 11.5-16.0 g dL–1). Case 2 presented with bicytopenia; the leukocyte count was 1.3 × 103 mm-3 (normal range: 4.3-10.3 × 103mm-3) and the PLT count was 88 × 103 mm-3 (normal range: 150-400 × 103 mm-3). Cases 2 and 3 had toxic peripheralneuropathy. The PLT count in case 3 was 123 × 103 mm-3 (normal range: 150-400 × 103 mm-3). Cases 4 and 5 presentedwith fatigue and headache; these 2 patients did not have positive findings, apart from high levels of mercury in theblood. We have written informed consent. Conclusion: We think that heavy metal exposure—although rare—should be considered in patients that present withnumerous symptoms involving multiple systems, including the cardiovascular, respiratory, and neurological systems.The present report is unique in that in describes mercury poisoning in 5 members of the same family.