Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jan 26, 2020; 8(2): 479-486
Published online Jan 26, 2020. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v8.i2.479
Multiple organ dysfunction and rhabdomyolysis associated with moonwort poisoning: Report of four cases
Fang Li, An-Bao Chen, Yong-Chun Duan, Rui Liao, Yu-Wei Xu, Li-Li Tao
Fang Li, An-Bao Chen, Yong-Chun Duan, Rui Liao, Yu-Wei Xu, Li-Li Tao, Department of Emergency Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming 650101, Yunnan Province, China
Author contributions: Li F was a major contributor to the writing of the manuscript; Duan TC and Liao R assisted in the preparation of the manuscript and revised it critically for valuable intellectual content; Li F, Chen AB, Duan YC, and Liao R collected and analyzed the data of the cases; Chen AB, Xu YW, and Tao LL interpreted the data; all authors critically reviewed and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by the Talent Development Program of The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, China, No. RCPYXM2017-3-04.
Informed consent statement: Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: An-Bao Chen, Doctor, Department of Emergency Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, No. 374, Dianmian Avenue, Wuhua District, Kunming 650101, Yunnan, China. emgdep2815@163.com
Received: October 30, 2019
Peer-review started: October 30, 2019
First decision: November 13, 2019
Revised: December 13, 2019
Accepted: December 22, 2019
Article in press: December 22, 2019
Published online: January 26, 2020
Processing time: 78 Days and 19.3 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Moonwort is a widely used Chinese herbal medicine. It has various pharmacological effects, such as relieving cough and preventing asthma. To date, multiple organ dysfunction and rhabdomyolysis caused by moonwort poisoning have not been reported.

CASE SUMMARY

Here we report four cases of moonwort poisoning that presented with multiple organ dysfunction and rhabdomyolysis accompanied by vomiting, fatigue, and muscle aches. One patient was an adult male, two were adult females, and one was a boy, with an age range of 7–64 years. The adults were treated with hemoperfusion and symptomatic therapies, while the child was treated with plasma exchange and symptomatic therapies. All four patients recovered.

CONCLUSION

Blood purification combined with symptomatic treatment may be an effective method for managing multiple organ dysfunction and rhabdomyolysis caused by acute moonwort poisoning.

Keywords: Moonwort poisoning; Multiple organ dysfunction; Rhabdomyolysis; Hemoperfusion; Plasma exchange; Case report

Core tip: Moonwort is a widely used Chinese herbal medicine. To date, multiple organ dysfunction and rhabdomyolysis caused by moonwort poisoning have not been reported. In this case report, we describe the effects of blood purification combined with symptomatic treatment in patients with multiple organ dysfunction and rhabdomyolysis caused by moonwort poisoning. Use of this treatment was effective and safe in these patients.