High-dose diquat poisoning: a case report

Abstract

Diquat is a widely used herbicide that is substituted for paraquat. With paraquat off the market, cases of diquat poisoning have been gradually increasing. The kidney is the most frequently impaired organ in diquat poisoning. Few cases of multiple organ failure caused by diquat have been reported.We herein describe a 30-year-old man who orally ingested about 160 mL of enriched diquat. Despite aggressive treatment, the patient's condition progressed to multiple organ failure and death. The pulmonary lesions in this patient were different from those previously reported. This patient did not die of renal failure but of severe respiratory failure. He exhibited three different stages of pulmonary disease.The lung lesions in this case were unique. We hope that doctors will pay more attention to the lung lesions in patients with diquat poisoning in future and find new treatment methods to save the lives of such patients.

Keywords: Diquat; case report; herbicide; multiple organ dysfunction syndrome; poisoning; respiratory failure.

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.

Chest computed tomography on the day the patient orally ingested diquat.

Figure 2.

Chest computed tomography on the third day after the patient orally ingested diquat. This was also the day on which the patient was admitted to the intensive care unit (Day 1).

Figure 3.

Chest computed tomography on the third day after the patient was admitted to the intensive care unit (Day 3).

Figure 4.

Chest computed tomography on the sixth day after the patient was admitted to the intensive care unit (Day 6).

Figure 5.

Chest radiograph on the (a) 10th day and (b) 11th day after the patient was admitted to the intensive care unit.