[Latrodectism in southern France. A series of cases from the poisoning center of Marseille].

OBJECTIVES

Black widows, which belong to the genus Latrodectus, are particularly dangerous spiders. The clinical syndrome caused by their bite is known as latrodectism. In Provence and in Corsica, there is a locally-found species, Latrodectus mactans tredecimguttatus called "malmignate". A series of 30 cases were collected by the Marseille Poison centre between 1973 and 1993 inclusive.

RESULTS

The cases of poisoning involved patients bitten in the summer, mostly in Corsica (only 5 of the cases were from Provence) in rural areas. The symptoms were generally widespread pain and muscle contractions, sometimes associated with neurosomatic symptoms, such as increased sweating, or alterations in the blood pressure or body temperature. On the other hand, local signs remained benign or were absent, this sometimes causing confusion with the diagnosis: in 5 of the cases were surprisingly severe, the outcome of the poisoning was always favourable, using symptomatic treatment including infusions of calcium salts, which combat the effects of toxins (disturbance of presynaptic ion exchange).