Background:
Arum Palaestinum, also known as ‘Mekhalet El-Ghoule’, which literally means ‘The paintbrush of the witch’ is one of 26 species of the Arum genus, belonging to the Araceae family.
Different species of the plant are distributed through Northern Africa and the Mediterranean Region.
The leaves and seeds of the plant contain needle-shaped oxalates crystals that upon exposure cause irritation to the affected tissue ( oral cavity or GI tract ).
Surprisingly there is no available literature supporting the epidemiology and clinical manifestations of the poisoning.
Methods:
All pediatric Arum Palaestinum exposures reported to The Israel National Poison Information Center during 2017 were reviewed retrospectively from the IPIC computerized data system. Demographic data, as well as clinical data were extracted from those digital files.
Results:
53 patients files were reviewed with slight male predominance ( 31 vs 22 ), mean age of exposure was 3.3 years ( 9 month to 15 years ). Exposure occurred at home in most cases (25%) followed by outdoor exposure in 21% of the cases.
In 66% of the cases minor clinical manifestations has been reported mainly erythema and mouth irritation, agitation and drooling. 34% of the cases were asymptomatic.
In 19% of the patients EMS service was called but in only 19% of these cases the patient was referred to the emergency department.
There were no cases of severe poisoning or upper airways compromise.
Discussion:
Arum Palaestinum poisoning is one of the most common pediatric plant poisoning in Israel, our study support with clinical data for the first time the common knowledge that this poisoning is self-limited, confined to the affected mucosa an most likely doesn’t necessitate any intervention.
