Cardiovascular complications, phenol

It is remarkable that no cardiovascular complications were recorded in this study. Medical publications report that when a person is exposed rapidly to a sulEcient quantity of phenol (in general, 3-4 g of phenol applied quickly to the face), abnormal heart rhythms may occur. These abnormalities appear 15-20 minutes after the beginning of the peel and are often rapidly reversible. If any arrhythmia had developed during these cases of poisoning, it would no doubt have occurred rapidly and disappeared again by the time the patient arrived at the hospital. This argues in favor of the autonomous reversibility of arrhythmias with phenol. The authors cautiously conclude The absence of serious toxicity and major chemical burns in this series does not eliminate concern with the corrosive and systemic risks of phenol poisoning . 

In 1973, Litton, Fournier and Capinpin published the results of a survey covering cardiovascular complications during phenol facial peels. In the 493 questionnaires... 

A phenol peel should of course not be performed after myocardial infarction or cardiac decompensation. Unstable angina also rules out a phenol peel, as the stress associated with a peel could trigger an angina attack. No clear link has ever been established between a personal medical history of a heart condition, if currently stabilized, and the incidence of cardiovascular complications during a phenol peel. Apart from arrhythmias, to the best of my knowledge there is no mention in the literature of any serious heart problems occurring as a complication of a phenol peel. ... 

It should also be noted that phenol was widely used for 112 years between 1867 (Lister) and 1979 (in a study by Truppmann and Ellenby ") without any cardiovascular monitoring and with relatively few serious or fatal complications considering that very often it was applied in nonmedical circumstances (by lay peelers). Baker himself asserted that in 5000 cases of full-face or partial treatments, he did not note any abnormal heart rhythms - or any sys-... 

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