Envenomation by the scorpion Centruroides exilicauda (C sculpturatus) : severe and unusual manifestations
Berg, R.A.; Tarantino, M.D.
Pediatrics 87(6): 930-933
1991
ISSN/ISBN: 0031-4005 PMID: 2034501 Document Number: 371556
The paper describes 4 cases of venoming in children (aged 3 months-3 years and 6 months) by the scorpion Centruroides exilicauda (= sculpturatus) in south-west USA. Each victim presented with unusually severe symptoms, 2 requiring endotracheal intubation for respiratory failure and metabolic acidosis, 2 having elevated creatine phosphokinase levels, 1 with severe multiorgan system disease and 2 with pleocytosis of the cerebrospinal fluid. (An addendum describes a fifth severe case in a 14-month-old boy, who also needed endotracheal intubation.) The authors consider that the younger the victim the more extreme is the severity of symptoms, as is the case with most scorpion species. The findings suggest that envenoming by this species may often be more severe than originally supposed.R.D.G. Theakston Five cases of envenomation by the scorpion (C. exilicauda ) in young children are reported from the southwestern USA. Three of the patients developed respiratory failure requiring endotracheal intubation, and one developed multisystem failure. In 2 patients an elevated serum creatine phosphokinase was found, although the significance of this was not known. In 2 patients there was a sterile pleocytosis of the cerebrospinal fluid, but again, the significance of this was unknown.