Wild/Woodland Mushroom Poisoning: The Experience of Bucharest Emergency Hospital-Retrospective Study of ER 2023–2024 Presentations

The global trend of increasing mushroom consumption, combined with traditional practices in Romania and other Eastern European countries of collecting and consuming "wild mushrooms", may contribute to the rising incidence of emergency presentations due to inedible mushroom poisoning. This study aims to identify the clinical features of mushroom poisoning by retrospectively analyzing 47 cases presented to the Emergency Department of the Bucharest Emergency Hospital between 2023 and 2024. The methodology consists of a retrospective cohort study including all patients presented to the Emergency Department of the Bucharest Emergency Hospital with symptoms following mushroom ingestion between 2023 and 2024 totaling 47 cases. Conclusions: In this cohort, most cases of wild/forest mushroom poisoning (76.59%) were diagnosed during autumn, particularly in September and October. The distribution of cases was uniform with respect to both gender and urban versus rural residence. A significant proportion of patients (74.46%) required hospitalization for surveillance and/or specific treatment. The predominant clinical presentation consisted of gastrointestinal symptoms, observed in 97.87% of cases.