Narang and Aggarwal's research paper goes into depth on the case of a 22-year-old patient who was bit by a snake on his ear whilst sleeping on the roof of his house in North India. He was admitted to the hospital with complaints of droopy eyelids (bilateral ptosis) and extreme drowsiness 1 hour after the bite. Upon arrival, he had shortness of breath and was put on assisted ventilation. Future tests showed that the patient's eye and brainstem reflexes were absent. Doctors proceeded to administer a polyvalent anti-snake venom, anticholinesterases, and other supportive therapy. Within 24hrs of the determination the patient was brain dead, he was reacting to light, fingers were flicking, and eventually was taken off the ventilator after 5 days.
I found this paper interesting because it really highlights not only the power of medicine but also the power of snakes - especially vipers. Their venom can cause brain death in humans, so I can only imagine the intense and instant death it causes within smaller creatures, such as mice. This case and research is important to study in assisting the information database on the effects of snake bites to the human body and the proven procedures to bring people back from their effects.
Literature Referenced - Narang, Shiva, and Amitesh Aggarwal. “Reversible Brain Death: A Rare Manifestation of Snake Envenomation.” Indian Journal of Medical Specialities., vol. 14, no. 1, 2023, pp. 50–52, https://doi.org/10.4103/injms.injms_125_22.
1 comment:
Wow, this is pretty amazing!
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