Severe ARDS Complicating an Acute Intentional Cresol Poisoning

Abstract

Cresol is a phenol derivative used as a disinfectant that may cause gastrointestinal corrosive injury, central nervous system, cardiovascular disturbances, renal, and hepatic injury following intoxication. We present a case of a female patient who was admitted to the emergency department after ingesting an unknown amount of cresol; she was admitted with tachypnea, shortness of breath with low oxygen level in the blood. She did not develop hepatic or renal dysfunction. The gastrointestinal endoscopy was performed and showed esophagus and gastric erosins only. The patient was sedated and ventilated for 7 days. After receiving supportive intensive care, the patient recovered and was sent for psychiatric evaluation. Cresol intoxication can be fatal, and cause a respiratory failure with an acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), hepatic, and renal injury. This shows the importance of intensive care in the management of cresol poisoning.

NMR Spectroscopy Identifies Chemicals in Cigarette Smoke Condensate That Impair Skeletal Muscle Mitochondrial Function

“…o-Cresol is a methyl-substituted phenol at the ortho position and is found in cigarette smoke [ 83 , 84 ]. It is considered toxic and has been associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome along with cardiovascular, renal, and hepatic pathology following inhalation exposures [ 85 ]. In the current study, o-Cresol significantly impaired ADP-stimulated skeletal muscle mitochondrial respiration fueled by pyruvate/malate alone, as well as pyruvate/malate and succinate together.…”

Cade Oil Poisoning: A Case Series

“…We report that phenol and cresol intoxication can be responsible for respiratory failure with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) [5] found in 3 patients included in our series. Cresol intoxication can also lead to bronchospasm with pulmonary edema in poisoned patients [10] which may explain the clinical presentation of patient C. T. Hashimoto et al [11] reported the increase of aminotransferase levels after cresol ingestion evoking probable hepato-cellular injury that can manifest even after a 24-hour asymptomatic period explaining the late onset of liver failure in patient D who had an initially normal hepatic function and presented 24 hours later a high transaminases level.…”