Clinical Manifestations and Investigations on Yusho

Twenty-four cases of chlorobiphenyls poisoning had been investigated in the department of dermatology of Kurume University hospital from the 19th to 22nd Oct. 1968. Ocular symptoms of which most of patients (75%) were conscious were hypersecretion of palpebral sebum, lacrimation, swelling of the lids, reddness of the conjunctivas, poor vision, and also paresis, neuralgia in 17% and gastroenteric disorders such as poor appetite, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea in 50% of cases. The clinical skin manifestations of acneform eruptions resembled to “chloracne” and pigmentation of the skin, nails, conjunctivas and gingivae were seen in most of cases. The skin lesions were histologically characterized by hyperkeratosis, cystic dilatation of hair follicles and increasing of melanin at the basal cell layer. Sticky hypersecretion of the meibomian glands and pigmentation in mucosal membrane and nails would be more important as initial signs of peroral chlorobiphenyls poisoning. The chemical investigation of serum in the patients revealed normal liver function, but indication of hypertriglyceridemia, slight elevation of α2-globulin and decreasing of serum iron in some cases. An electron microscopic observations of chlorobiphenyls poisoned liver indicated the increasing of smooth surfaced endoplasmic reticulums and lipofuscin granules in number. A newborn of whom chlorobiphenyls poisoned woman was delivered was also examined. Hypersecretion of meibomian glands, swelling of the lids, reddness of conjunctivas and pigmentation over the whole body were found, but no disorders of liver function. It had been noted that the chlorobiphenyls poisoned baby had been released from clinical symptoms of the disease by two years after follow-up studies.