- 2008 Database of Korean Toxic Exposures: A Preliminary Study
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Byung-Hak So, Mi-Jin Lee, Hyun Kim, Jeong-Mi Moon, Kyung-Hye Park, Ae-Jin Sung, Seok-Ran Yeom, Seong-Beom Oh, Ji-Young You, Kyung-Woo Lee, Kyung-Won Lee
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J Korean Soc Clin Toxicol. 2010;8(2):51-60. Published online December 31, 2010
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Abstract
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- Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate toxic exposures in emergency centers with using a toxic exposure surveillance system-based report form as a preliminary study. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of toxic exposure patients who visited emergency centers from January to December 2008. Results: 3,157 patients from 11 emergency centers were enrolled. Males were involved in 47.9% of the total cases of exposure and in 60.1% of the cases of fatal exposure. Suicidal intent was the most common (61.0%) reason and most (87.4%) fatal exposures were suicidal. Pesticides were involved in 30.7% of the cases and sedative/hypnotics/antipsychotics were involved in 20.5%. The substances most frequently involved in fatalities were pesticides, and a 48.4% fatality rate was recorded for paraquat exposure. Conclusion: The toxic exposure data showed the preliminary poisoning events in emergency centers. It is recommended that toxicology professionals should develop a toxic surveillance system and serial reporting should be performed.
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