Role of Total Antioxidant Capacity and Troponin I in Predicting Outcome of Acute Zinc Phosphide Poisoning: A Prospective Study

Background: Zinc phosphide (Zn3P2) is cheap, easily available, highly potent rodenticide. Zinc phosphide toxicity is considered one of the most common poisonings, particularly in developing countries, with multiorgan toxicity that deeply affects the poisoned patient outcome. Aim: The study aimed to assess the effectiveness of total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and Troponin I for early prediction of acute (Zn3P2) toxicity outcome. Methods: This prospective cohort study was conducted on 53 cases of acute (Zn3P2) toxicity presented at Zagazig University Hospitals (emergency room and intensive care units) over the period from July 2023 to January 2024. Patients were evaluated by a thorough history, clinical assessment, routine laboratory investigations, focusing the attention to the role of TAC, Troponin I in predicting severity. Results: This study included patients with an age range from 17 to 57 years. Females were more than males representing 67.9% of patients. Regarding the clinical picture, 73.6% of patients were symptomatic, abdominal pain was the most, representing 61.5% of cases followed by vomiting 59% respectively. The Receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC) curve for Troponin I and TAC showed that Troponin I had better validity as a severity predictor of Zn3P2 poisoning followed by TAC according to their AUC. Conclusion: TAC and Troponin I are simple, easy and reliable markers that save time. They could be good predictors of poor outcomes in zinc phosphide poisoning. Recommendations: It is recommended to use TAC and Troponin I as predictors for severity and need for ICU admission in acute (Zn3P2) poisoning.