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Lead poisoning — a family study
Author(s) -
Parnis Francis X,
Kotasek Dusan,
Sage Robert E
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1991.tb94026.x
Subject(s) - lead poisoning , medicine , chelation therapy , intervention (counseling) , lead (geology) , pediatrics , intensive care medicine , psychiatry , thalassemia , geomorphology , geology
Objective: A family study is used to highlight the varied manifestations of lead poisoning and difficulties in diagnosis and treatment. Clinical features: A 42‐year‐old Italian woman with a known β‐thalassaemia trait presented with a two‐year history of disabling pains and symptomatic anaemia, which were found to be caused by lead poisoning. Intervention and outcome: Screening for lead poisoning among her immediate family members identified two others with different manifestations of plumbism. All three needed active chelating, which resulted in resolution of their symptoms. Conclusions: The similar haematological findings of β‐thalassaemia and lead poisoning may lead to a delay in diagnosis and treatment of lead poisoning when these two conditions coexist.