Paraquat poisoning : "State of the art"

Honoré, P. [UCL] Hantson, Philippe [UCL] Fauville, JP. [UCL] Peeters, André [UCL] Mahieu, P. [UCL]

The authors describe the main features of acute paraquat poisoning. The clinical picture together with severity grading is presented. The pathophysiological mechanisms responsible for multiple organ dysfunction are discussed. Despite a better understanding of pathophysiological pathways and numerous experimental data, the treatment of the most severe forms of poisoning remains limited. The efficacy of more recently developed therapeutic approaches is still to be evaluated.