Acute, chronic poisoning, residential exposures to elemental mercury - Michigan, 1989-1990

Article Abstract:

Two episodes illustrate the variety of situations leading to acute and chronic mercury poisoning. In the first episode, after four adults were hospitalized with multiple symptoms, it was learned that they had been smelting dental amalgams (fillings) to recover the silver. Mercury fumes released during the process entered the air ducts and circulated throughout the house. Despite chelation (chemical removal of toxins in the blood) and breathing support, all four patients died. The second episode involved three children who suffered from mercury poisoning; one child had no symptoms. Two of the children recovered completely, but the third had numerous residual neurologic abnormalities. Liquid mercury had been spilled in one of the children's bedrooms. Subsequently, the carpeting and the wooden subfloor were removed from the area. The other carpeting in the house and all the furniture were commercially cleaned. Spilled mercury seeps into carpeting and floor cracks, where it slowly volatizes, leading to chronic poisoning. Vacuuming the area spreads the mercury vapor throughout the house. The development and progression of mercury poisoning are briefly described. The vagueness of symptoms makes diagnosis difficult. Potential sources of poisoning in the home are mercury switches, thermostats and thermometers. Mercury may also come from dental offices, laboratories and other industrial sources. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Case studies, Reports, Physiological aspects, Poisoning, Accidental, Accidental poisoning, Mercury (Metal), Mercury in the body, United States. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

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Extracorporeal Life Support: The University of Michigan Experience

Article Abstract:

The University of Michigan has more experience with extracorporeal life support (ECLS) than any other single institution in the world. ECLS, also called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, is the use of a modified heart-lung machine for days or weeks on people with severe heart or lung failure who have a high risk of death despite treatment. The ECLS program at the University of Michigan began in 1980 and has treated 1,000 patients. In-hospital survival rates ranged from 88% to 33%, depending on the age of the patient and whether they had lung failure or heart failure.

History, Blood oxygenation, Extracorporeal, Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

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Shaping a Positive Future for Academic Medicine at Michigan

Article Abstract:

The University of Michigan School of Medicine continues to be an innovator in the health care industry. It was the first medical school in the US to create a university-owned teaching hospital in 1869. The very next year, it began admitting women, one of only a handful of medical schools to do so. Minority students were also welcomed. The school pioneered the use of table salt to prevent goiter, thoracic surgery, electrocardiography, extracorporeal life support, gene therapy for heart disease and muscular dystrophy, and innovative forms of managed care.

Editorial, Innovations, University of Michigan Medical School

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