Organophosphorus (OP) poisoning is a major health problem all over the world, particularly in the developing countries. The present study aims to explore the clinical and epidemiological features found in patients presenting with OP poisoning and to find out reliability of related laboratory investigations. A 2-year cross-sectional study was conducted on patients presenting with clinical features of OP poisoning in toxicology unit, Emergency Hospital, Mansoura, Egypt. A total of 588 patients were presented during the study period. Poisoning with suicidal intent (82.02%) was more common than the accidental one (17.98%). Majority of the patients were housewives (42%) followed by farmers, shopkeepers, laborers and students. Nausea and vomiting (85.02%) was the most common symptom while miosis was the most common sign observed in 91.94% patients. A total of 20 patients of OP poisoning died (3%) with respiratory failure being the primary cause of death followed by CNS depression, cardiac arrest and septicemia. Both true- and pseudo-cholinesterase levels were depressed in all cases; however, true-cholinesterase levels were more accurately correlated to poisoning signs.

Keywords: Clinico-epidemiological characteristics, organophosphorus, Mansoura