Yonsei Med J.  2013 Jan;54(1):265-268. 10.3349/ymj.2013.54.1.265.

Two Cases of Mushroom Poisoning by Podostroma Cornu-Damae

• Ahn JY
• Seok SJ
• Song JE
• Choi JH
• Han SH
• Choi JY
• Kim CO
• Song YG
• Kim JM

• KMID: 1776950
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3349/ymj.2013.54.1.265

Abstract

Podostroma cornu-damae is a rare fungus that houses a fatal toxin in its fruit body. In this case report, two patients collected and boiled the wild fungus in water, which they drank for one month. One patient died, presenting with desquamation of the palms and soles, pancytopenia, severe sepsis and multiple organ failure. The other patient recovered after one month of conservative care after admission. We found a piece of Podostroma cornu-damae in the remaining clusters of mushrooms. Mushroom poisoning by Podostroma cornu-damae has never been previously reported in Korea.

Keyword

Podostroma cornu-damae; mushroom; poisoning; pancytopenia

MeSH Terms

Agaricales/metabolism
Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use
Ascomycota/*metabolism
Fatal Outcome
Female
Fever
Hospitalization
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Mushroom Poisoning/*diagnosis
Pancytopenia/chemically induced
Republic of Korea
Anti-Bacterial Agents

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 This picture shows the desquamation on the sole of the Case 1 patient.

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  Fig. 2 Analysis of the remaining mushrooms by the agricultural microbiology team of the National Academy of Agricultural Science. Left clusters of mushrooms are Ganoderma lucidum, while the piece on the right (arrow) turned out to be Podostroma cornu-damae.

• 

  Fig. 3 This figure shows the spores of Podostroma cornu-damae (×100).

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