Citation

Lelièvre B, Triau S, Codron P, Mariau Y, Papin-Lefebvre F, Collin A, Drevin G, Le Roux G, Briet M, Boels D, Letournel F. Forensic Toxicol. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s11419-019-00519-5

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In developed countries, lead intoxication is decreasing in adults as sources of contamination were considerably reduced. Hence, cases of lead encephalopathy have become scarcer. We report the case of a 50-year-old woman who developed a systemic intoxication due the persistence of lead fragments in her abdomen and back. The patient was shot with homemade gun bullets, which were immediately surgically removed. During the eight following months, she presented progressive worsening signs of systemic and cerebral lead intoxication. On admission to hospital, her blood lead concentration was of 1650 µg/L. Despite surgeries and the use of lead chelators, she died 8 days later.

Language: en