Demographic and Clinical Characteristics of Mushroom Poisonings Presenting to Emergency Department

Aim: To emphasize the significance of mushroom poisonings in terms of their wide clinical spectrum and potentially lethal feature. Material and Method: In this retrospective study 135 cases of mushroom poisoning admitted to emergency departments of two major hospitals in Central Anatolian Region between 2010 and 2012 were evaluated. Results: 121 (89.6%) of 135 patients were adult and 14 were in pediatric age group. The mean age was 41.5 +/- 18.4. A hundred twenty-six of patients had poisoned after consuming wild mushrooms. The most frequent symptoms were nause, abdominal pain, fatigue and vomiting. Patients were admitted most commonly within the 6 hours after ingestion. Fifty percent of patients were hospitalized. Mortality was seen in 3 patients. Discussion: Mushroom poisoning still remains as an important public health problem. Due to the diversity and non-specificity of symptoms diagnosis is confounding and should be kept in mind of emergency physicians especially in rainy weather.