Fatal paraquat poisoning: report of two cases.

Paraquat, a dipyridium compound is widely used as a herbicide. It is available in India as a liquid concentrate for agricultural use and is highly toxic if ingested. It leads to renal, hepatic, cardiac and pulmonary toxicity and also causes burns of oral mucosa and esophagus as it is caustic in nature. We describe two cases of paraquat poisoning who developed serious toxicity following its ingestion and died of respiratory failure.