Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Lightning Injuries”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 469 records · Page 26Linked to original sources
PubMed2007

Severe stunned myocardium after lightning strike.

OBJECTIVE: To report the development of myocardial stunning and severe heart failure after lightning strike with total recovery of function. DESIGN: Case report. SETTING: Coronary care unit at Medica Sur Clinic, Mexico. PATIENT: A 42-yr-old woman who was hit by lightning developed rapid and progressive hemodynamic deterioration manifested by cardiogenic shock that required invasive monitoring. Twenty-four hours after the strike, intravenous levosimendan and intra-aortic balloon pump were initiated because the patient demonstrated no significant response to management with conventional inotropic agents. Two days later, echocardiographic signs of systolic and diastolic dysfunction improved markedly. Dual-isotope-imaging myocardial perfusion testing with technetium-99m-sestamibi and thallium-201, performed 9 days after admission, showed normal perfusion and normal left ventricular systolic function. The patient exhibited complete recovery of function. The exact mechanism of abnormal contractility in the absence of direct electrofulguration is unknown but may be explained by release of oxygen free radicals, proteolysis of the contractile apparatus, and cytosolic overload of intracellular calcium, followed by reduced myofilament sensitivity to calcium. These abnormalities are consistent with stunned myocardium. CONCLUSIONS: Lightning strike may cause serious contractile dysfunction in the absence of irreversible myocardial injury, but the exact mechanism of this phenomenon remains unknown. We propose that lighting strike can cause myocardial stunning resulting in severe but reversible left ventricular dysfunction. The patient's recovery was facilitated by support treatment including administration of levosimendan, which increases the intracellular sensitivity to calcium, a mechanism disturbed in patients with myocardial stunning.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

A bolt from the blue: lightning strike to the head.

We report an extraordinary event of a lightning strike to the head of a helmeted bicyclist that occurred under fair weather conditions with a cloudless sky. The patient sustained a cardiac arrest and hypoxic encephalopathy with residual neurologic impairment. With the availability of highly developed meteorologic equipment, we were able to determine that the lightning "bolt from the blue" probably originated in a thunderstorm that was about 16 km away and obscured by the mountains.

Brain Injuries↗
PubMed1995

Acute electrical burns.

Electric current can damage an individual by thermal heating of the tissues; by disregulating autonomously functioning organ systems, such as the circulatory and respiratory systems; or by once-only or continuing stimulation of the nerves and striated muscles. In the first case, the result is coagulation necrosis, and in the second case life-threatening events can occur, such as arrhythmia or apnea. In the third case, vigorous nerve stimulation can lead to paralysis and vasospasm. Massive muscle contractions due to nerve stimulation or the direct triggering of striated muscles can cause ruptures, ligamentous tears, fractures, and joint dislocations, while prolonged current passing through the thoracic wall may stimulate tetany of the intercostal muscles and diaphragm resulting in asphyxia. This article is confined to a description of thermal or Joule heating of tissues when they form part of an electric circuit and to the effects of direct nerve and muscle stimulation. Other articles discuss nonthermal effects. The injuries a person sustains as the result of an electrical accident depend on a large number of interrelated factors, such as the properties of the electrical power supply, the magnitude and duration of current flow, the current pathway, and skin conditions. It makes a vast difference whether a person is hit by a lightning bolt (extremely high voltage, short current flow) or receives a shock from an electrical power supply (low to high voltage, relatively long current flow). Wide variation in the physical properties of lightning discharges and the discharges from electrical power supplies at home and in industry means that all kinds of injuries can be encountered.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1997

Pediatric electrical burns: management strategies.

The purpose of the present study was to analyse the course of patients hospitalised with electrical burn wounds in the past 25 years at a major children's hospital in the United States in order to devise safe and cost effective management strategies for these patients. The study was a retrospective chart review of patients with electrical injuries admitted to the hospital between 1971 and 1995. We identified 127 children who were included in the study. Injuries resulted from biting an electrical cord (oral injury) (n = 48), placing an object into an electrical socket (outlet injury) (n = 33), contacting a low voltage wire or appliance indoors (low voltage household injury) (n = 25), contacting a high voltage wire outdoors (high voltage wire injury) (n = 18), or being struck by lightning (n = 3). A retrospective review revealed that the great majority of patients with low voltage electrical injuries did not need admission to the hospital and could have been cared for on an outpatient basis. Almost every patient with high voltage injury had a justified admission due to the severity of the injury. On the basis of these results we conclude that we can safely reduce the number of admissions to the hospital for children with low voltage minor electrical injuries.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1974

Lightning.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Brain Edema↗
PubMed1998

Lightning stroke and neuropsychological impairment: cases and questions.

OBJECTIVE: To objectify neuropsychological impairments in survivors of lightning stroke with lasting complaints about poor concentration and inability to divide their attention. DESIGN: A series of six cases of lightning stroke were studied. All patients had lost consciousness and reported amnesia of varying length. Assessment took place between one and four years after injury, ensuring that their neurological state had stabilised. They were tested with a neuropsychological battery with an emphasis on attention and memory. Personality and emotional reaction to the accident were assessed with questionnaires and a lightning fear scale. Complaints were recorded by means of a trauma complaints list including 10 questions on symptoms of the post-traumatic stress disorder. RESULTS: Patients reported fatigue and lack of energy as their main complaints. In addition, poor concentration, irritability, and emotional lability were mentioned often. Neuropsychological tests disclosed mild impairments in memory, attention, and visual reaction times. Two patients could be classified as depressed, and one of these also showed convincing signs of the post-traumatic stress disorder. CONCLUSION: As the lasting complaints and impairments could not be explained, for all six cases, as resulting from head injury concomitant with lightning stroke, cerebral hypoxia or a post-traumatic stress syndrome, it is concluded that lightning stroke can result in subtle cognitive impairments. It is speculated that most complaints of these survivors are caused by a vegetative dysregulation, a disorder that has often been noted in the literature on the effects of electrical injury to the nervous system. Such a dysregulation might cause both the main complaint of fatigue and the mild cognitive impairments identified with the present test battery.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Accidents of fulguration].

Fulguration, first electric accident in which the man was a victim, is to day better known. A clap of thunder is decomposed in two elements: lightning, and thunder. Lightning is caused by an electrical discharge, either within a cloud, or between two clouds, or, above all, between a cloud and the surface of the ground. Experimental equipments owned by the French Electricity Company and by the Atomic Energy Commission, have allowed to photograph lightnings and to measure certain physical characteristics (Intensity variable between 25 to 100 kA, voltage variable between 20 to 1 000 kV). The frequency of storms was learned: the isokeraunic level, in France, is about 20, meaning that thunder is heard twenty days during one year. Man may be stricken by thunder by direct hit, by sudden bursting, by earth current, or through various conductors. The electric charge which reached him may go to the earth directly by contact with the ground or may dissipate in the air through a bony promontory (elbow). The total number of victims, "wounded" or deceased, is not now known by statistics. Death comes by insulation breakdown of one of several anatomic cephalic formations: skull, meninx, brain. Many various lesions may happen in survivors: loss of consciousness, more or less long, sensorial or motion deficiencies. All these signs are momentary and generally reversible. Besides one may observe much more intense lesions on the skin: burns and, over all, characteristic aborescence (skin effect by high frequency current). The heart is protected, contrarily to what happens with industrial electrocution. The curative treatment is merely symptomatic : reanimation, surgery for burns or associated traumatic lesions. A prevention is researched to help the lonely man, in the country or in the mountains in the houses (lightning conductor, Faraday cage), in vehicles (aircraft, cars, ships). The mysterious and unforseeable character of lightning still stays, leaving a door opened for numerous investigations.

Burns, Electric↗
PubMed1985

Disseminated intravascular coagulation and acute myocardial necrosis caused by lightning.

A 24-year-old woman was struck by lightning and suffered 20% second degree burns. She was admitted after cardiac and respiratory arrest. Despite intensive supportive care she died 24 h later of cardiogenic shock complicated by disseminated intravascular coagulation. At autopsy there was myocardial necrosis. Disseminated intravascular coagulation and myocardial necrosis are only rarely described as complications of lightning.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Struck-by-lightning deaths in the United States.

The objective of the research reported here was to examine the epidemiologic characteristics of struck-by-lightning deaths. Using data from both the National Centers for Health Statistics (NCHS) multiple-cause-of-death tapes and the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), which is maintained by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the authors calculated numbers and annualized rates of lightning-related deaths for the United States. They used resident estimates from population microdata files maintained by the Census Bureau as the denominators. Work-related fatality rates were calculated with denominators derived from the Current Population Survey of employment data. Four illustrative investigative case reports of lightning-related deaths were contributed by the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator. It was found that a total of 374 struck-by-lightning deaths had occurred during 1995-2000 (an average annualized rate of 0.23 deaths per million persons). The majority of deaths (286 deaths, 75 percent) were from the South and the Midwest. The numbers of lightning deaths were highest in Florida (49 deaths) and Texas (32 deaths). A total of 129 work-related lightning deaths occurred during 1995-2002 (an average annual rate of 0.12 deaths per million workers). Agriculture and construction industries recorded the most fatalities at 44 and 39 deaths, respectively. Fatal occupational injuries resulting from being struck by lightning were highest in Florida (21 deaths) and Texas (11 deaths). In the two national surveillance systems examined, incidence rates were higher for males and people 20-44 years of age. In conclusion, three of every four struck-by-lightning deaths were from the South and the Midwest, and during 1995-2002, one of every four struck-by-lightning deaths was work-related. Although prevention programs could target the entire nation, interventions might be most effective if directed to regions with the majority of fatalities because they have the majority of lightning strikes per year.

Accidents↗
PubMed2003

External cause-specific summaries of occupational fatal injuries. Part II: an analysis of years of potential life lost.

BACKGROUND: Fatal injury surveillance data provide an opportunity to assess the impact of occupational injuries and may indicate which industries or occupations are appreciably more hazardous than others, and thus should be given priority in public health intervention. METHODS: Fatalities from the National Traumatic Occupational Fatality surveillance system served as the basis for examining external cause (E-code) specific impact summaries. Years of potential life lost (YPLL) were calculated for fatal injuries in the years 1983-1994. Industries and occupations were compared with respect to frequency of fatal injuries. In addition, injuries in categories of external causes are examined across all industries and occupations. RESULTS: Machinery, electric current, homicide, falls, and transportation-related are the external cause groups highlighted by high frequency/rate of occurrence. Electric current event groups are also characterized by high average YPLL. Poisoning, conflagration, and lightning were also identified in several occupations as having high associated average YPLL. CONCLUSIONS: The external-cause-specific analysis of average YPLL identified industries and occupations where, on average, younger workers were dying in fatal injuries. Noteworthy in this assessment were homicides and falls. The YPLL measure coupled with more commonly employed indices (e.g., rates) may provide a fuller description of the impact of occupational fatal injuries.

Accidental Falls↗