Liver failure and death after exposure to microcystins at a hemodialysis center in Brazil.

Abstract

Hemodialysis is a common but potentially hazardous procedure. From February 17 to 20, 1996, 116 of 130 patients (89 percent) at a dialysis center (dialysis center A) in Caruaru, Brazil, had visual disturbances, nausea, and vomiting associated with hemodialysis. By March 24, 26 of the patients had died of acute liver failure.