Raw salmon or red herring: ascending paralysis with suspected seafood poisoning

A 16-year-old boy presented with rapidly progressive ascending paralysis 1 hour after eating raw salmon. Seafood poisoning was initially considered. Although salmon is not a common cause of toxic seafood poisoning, cases have been reported in the Pacific region. The patient rapidly developed acute l...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inMedical journal of Australia Vol. 187; no. 8; p. 468
Main Authors Gunja, Naren, Dowsett, Robert P, Ng, Karl
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Australia 15.10.2007
Subjects
Adolescent
Animals
Arteriovenous Malformations - complications
Arteriovenous Malformations - diagnosis
Central Nervous System Vascular Malformations - complications
Central Nervous System Vascular Malformations - diagnosis
Diagnosis, Differential
Foodborne Diseases - diagnosis
Humans
Male
Paralysis - etiology
Salmon
Seafood - poisoning
Spinal Cord - blood supply
Thoracic Vertebrae
Online AccessGet more information

Cover

More Information
Summary:A 16-year-old boy presented with rapidly progressive ascending paralysis 1 hour after eating raw salmon. Seafood poisoning was initially considered. Although salmon is not a common cause of toxic seafood poisoning, cases have been reported in the Pacific region. The patient rapidly developed acute left heart and respiratory failure, and investigations revealed a rare tracking intramedullary haematoma of the spinal cord. Structural abnormalities of the central nervous system may present with acute paralysis and spinal shock, mimicking toxicological syndromes.
ISSN:0025-729X
DOI:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2007.tb01359.x