Fulminant Hepatic Failure from a Sea Anemone Sting
Authors: Patricia J. Garcia
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1994)

Brief Reports15 April 1994Fulminant Hepatic Failure from a Sea Anemone StingPatricia J. Garcia, MD, Roland M. H. Schein, MD, and Joseph W. Burnett, MDPatricia J. Garcia, MDFrom the University of Miami School of Medicine and the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Miami, Florida, and the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland., Roland M. H. Schein, MDFrom the University of Miami School of Medicine and the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Miami, Florida, and the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland., and Joseph W. Burnett, MDFrom the University of Miami School of Medicine and the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Miami, Florida, and the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-120-8-199404150-00007 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Coelenterate stings can produce various local and systemic reactions. We report the first known case of fulminant hepatic failure attributable to a sea anemone sting. The patient, who developed hepatic failure within 3 days of envenomation, had negative hepatitis serologic tests and no other potential hepatotoxin exposure. A biopsy of the liver showed massive hepatic necrosis. The patient's serum tested positive for IgG by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) against Condylactis sp. antigen at a dilution of 1:450. We retrospectively tested serum from another man who had had transient elevations of liver function levels after a presumed coelenterate sting, and the ...References1. McGoldrick J, Marx JA. Marine envenomations. Part 2: Invertebrates. J Emerg Med. 1992; 10:71-7. Google Scholar2. Halstead BW. Poisonous and Venomous Marine Animals of the World. 2d rev. ed. Princeton, New Jersey: Darwin Press; 1988:105-31. Google Scholar3. Burnett JW, Calton GJ. Jellyfish envenomation syndromes updated. Ann Emerg Med. 1987; 9:1000-5. Google Scholar4. Maretic Z, Russell FE. Stings by the sea anemone Anemonia sulcata in the Adriatic Sea. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1983; 32:891-6. Google Scholar5. Burnett JW, Calton GJ, Burnett HW, Mandojana RM. Local and systemic reactions from jellyfish stings. Clin Dermatol. 1987; 5:14-28. Google Scholar6. Filling-Katz MR. Mononeuritis multiplex following jellyfish stings (Letter). Ann Neurol. 1984; 15:213. Google Scholar7. 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Garcia, MD, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Medical Service RF 111, N.W. 16th Street, Miami, FL 33125.Acknowledgments: The authors thank Dr. George Hensley for preparation of pathology specimens, Dr. Eugene Schiff for review of the manuscript, and Mrs. Jan Kampka and the Medical Media staff for technical assistance in the preparation of the manuscript. 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Part 2 - In the Water: Saltwater DermatosesEnvenomation by Aquatic InvertebratesAllergy to Actinia equine and Anemona viridisPicadura por coral de fuego: un riesgo asociado al turismo en aguas tropicalesCnidarians and human skinMedical aspects of jellyfish envenomation: pathogenesis, case reporting and therapyToxinological and immunological studies of capillary electrophoresis fractionated Chrysaora quinquecirrha (Desor) fishing tentacle and Chironex fleckeri Southcott nematocyst venomsAcute renal failure after a sea anemone stingAutonomic neurotoxicity of jellyfish and marine animal venomsCoelenterate venom research 1991–1995: Clinical, chemical and immunological aspectsToxicity of sea nettle (Chrysaora quinquecirrha) fishing tentacle nematocyst venom in cultured rat hepatocytesSKIN HAZARDS OF THE MARINE AQUARIUM INDUSTRY 15 April 1994Volume 120, Issue 8Page: 665-666KeywordsAcute liver failureAntigensEnzyme linked immunosorbent assayHepatitis AHospitalizationsLiverNecrosisToxinsUlcersUrine Issue Published: 15 April 1994 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 1994 by American College of Physicians. 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