Friday July 23, 1999 - Question 14

The poison center is contacted by a frantic mother who just found her 4 year old child chewing on a mushroom that had been harvested earlier in the day from a nearby wooded area.  She is confident that the child only had time to select one mushroom.  She was able to sweep a quarter of the mushroom out of the child’s mouth.  She describes the mushroom as brownish in color with a ridged cap.  It is no larger than a half-dollar.  You have a local mycologist on call that is willing to do an identification of the  mushroom.  Within the hour, the mushroom is identified as a species of Gyromitra.  The child is asymptomatic and in a local emergency department.
 

What would your initial management recommendations be?

1. Comment on the administration of GI decontamination.

2. Discuss the toxicity of this class of mushroom and the timeline for the onset of symptoms.

3. Review possible treatments and their indications.

4. Provide recommendations on the length of observation.
 

Response