Subacute pulmonary manifestation in a survivor of severe paraquat intoxication.

Paraquat has been widely used as a nonselective contact herbicide since 1962. It is highly toxic for humans, and many cases of acute poisoning, especially intentional self-poisoning, have been reported over the past few decades in developing countries. Ingestion of a threshold volume results in multiple organ failure and death after a longer period of time, but aggressive clinical studies are rarely done when the diagnosis is clear. We report the case of a patient who survived severe paraquat intoxication; he presented with subacute pulmonary manifestations including physiologic dysfunction and abnormalities on radiographs.