Echis colorata bites: clinical evaluation of 42 patients. A retrospective study.

A retrospective study of 42 patients bitten by Echis colorata in the last 26 years is reported. Twenty-eight patients received and 14 patients did not receive specific antivenin. The clinical findings, laboratory studies, and course of hospitalization revealed hemostatic disturbances in most of the patients. One of the untreated patients died in the period when antivenin was not available. We recommend that antivenin be given, following appropriate clinical and laboratory assessment, to patients bitten by E. colorata who have progressive local signs and major alterations in the clotting mechanism. The usual precautions against allergic reactions should be taken.