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Unexplained dyspnea in a patient of chronic arsenicosis: A diagnostic challenge and learning curve for physicians
Chronic arsenic exposure causes cutaneous effects like hyperkeratosis, peripheral vascular disease, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, non-cirrhotic portal hypertension, hepatomegaly, peripheral neuropathy, respiratory involvement, bad obstetrical outcome, hematological disturbances, and diabetes...
Autores principales: | , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd
2015
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4372874/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25814805 http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0970-2113.152640 |
Sumario: | Chronic arsenic exposure causes cutaneous effects like hyperkeratosis, peripheral vascular disease, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, non-cirrhotic portal hypertension, hepatomegaly, peripheral neuropathy, respiratory involvement, bad obstetrical outcome, hematological disturbances, and diabetes mellitus. Here we present a case of a 24-year-old lady, with chronic exposure to arsenic, presenting to us with progressive dyspnea. We found pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) as a cause of her dyspnea. PAH can occur in arsenicosis, secondary to arsenic-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung fibrosis, and portal hypertension, which we excluded by appropriate investigations in our case. We also excluded a familial or heritable form of PAH. Thus, with the exclusion of all these secondary causes of PAH, as well as a hereditary cause, we came to a conclusion that this PAH might be due to chronic arsenic exposure. To the best of our knowledge, no case of PAH in chronic arsenicosis has been reported to date. |
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