Lightning injury: management of a case with ten-day survival.

A boy, injured by lightning, had cardiopulmonary arrest. Following resuscitation and during the course of hospitalization, he developed further cardiac arrhythmia, cerebral edema, generalized seizures, and upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Despite efforts to combat these complications, the patient's condition deteriorated, and he died on the tenth day of hospitalization. The pathologic findings are described and the treatment discussed.