Citation

Cochran C, Hax S, Hayes WK. Toxicon 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Earth and Biological Sciences, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, 92350, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.toxicon.2019.09.022

PMID

31585139

Abstract

Envenomations by the Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake (Crotalus pyrrhus) are fairly rare. Previous descriptions in the literature do not include locality, an important factor in the clinical symptoms or syndromes of snakebites resulting from geographic variation in venom composition. Here, we describe two cases of envenoming by C. pyrrhus from two Arizona localities (Tinajas Altas Mountains, Yuma County, and Phoenix Mountains, Maricopa County). Both patients experienced swelling, but neither demonstrated coagulopathy, thrombocytopenia, or hypofibrinogenemia. The Phoenix Mountains patient developed hemorrhagic bullae and tissue damage in his bitten extremity, necessitating the amputation of the distal portion of his middle finger. Treatment for both consisted of medication for pain, isotonic crystalloid, and antivenom therapy with recovery in each case. Based on visual inspection of 1D-gels and RP-HPLC chromatograms, venom samples were largely similar but appeared to differ quantitatively for several toxin families between and within populations.

Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Language: en

Keywords

AnaVip; Antivenom; CroFab; Crotalus pyrrhus; Envenomation; Snake bite