Pseudodiphtheria: Prominent Pharyngeal Membrane Associated with Fatal Paraquat Ingestion

  1. DAVID S. STEPHENS, M.D.;
  2. DAVID H. WALKER, M.D.;
  3. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, M.D.;
  4. LISA G. KAPLOWITZ, M.D.;
  5. H. ROBERT BRASHEAR, M.D.;
  6. RANDY ROBERTS, M.D.; and
  7. W. ANDERSON SPICKARD, Jr., M.D.
  1. Nashville, Tennessee; and Chapel Hill, North Carolina

    Abstract

    Three patients presented with prominent pharyngeal membranes suggestive of tonsillar-pharyngeal diphtheria, but later found to be caused by oral ingestion of the herbicide paraquat. In all cases appropriate therapy was delayed because of failure to include paraquat in the differential diagnosis: Paraquat ingestion should be considered in all patients with prominent tongue and pharyngeal membranes.

    Article and Author Information

    • ▸From the Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee; and the Departments of Pathology and Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

    • ▸Requests for reprints should be addressed to David S. Stephens, M.D. George Hunter Laboratory, Vanderbilt University Hospital, Nashville, Tennessee 37232.

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    1. Ann Intern Med February 1, 1981 vol. 94 no. 2 202-204
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