Systematic review of parkinsonian syndromes in short- and long-term survivors of paraquat poisoning.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess whether high-dose paraquat exposure was associated with the development of parkinsonism. We carried out a systematic review of all published cases of paraquat toxicity meeting a case-definition of paraquat poisoning and who either recovered or lived for at least 30 days (primary analysis) or lived for 15 to 30 days (secondary analysis). Cases were included if they contained sufficient information to determine whether they had signs of parkinsonism. Our search yielded 818 publications containing 83 cases. The primary analysis yielded 70 cases. None manifested signs of parkinsonism. An additional 13 were in the secondary analysis and none exhibited signs of parkinsonism. An analysis the world's entire published experience found no connection between high-dose paraquat exposure in humans and the development of parkinsonism.