Mycetism: a review of the recent literature

Abstract

Approximately 100 of the known species of mushrooms are poisonous to humans. New toxic mushroom species continue to be identified. Some species initially classified as edible are later reclassified as toxic. This results in a continually expanding list of toxic mushrooms. As new toxic species are identified, some classic teachings about mycetism no longer hold true. As more toxic mushrooms are identified and more toxic syndromes are reported, older classification systems fail to effectively accommodate mycetism. This review provides an update of myscetism and classifies mushroom poisonings by the primary organ system affected, permitting expansion, as new, toxic mushroom species are discovered.

Fig. 1

The genus Amanita contains seven sections, two which are nontoxic and five of which are toxic. The clinical syndromes produced after ingestion of mushrooms from different sections are diverse, despite the mushrooms belonging to the same genus. Mushrooms in the Phalloideae section produce fulminant hepatic failure, while mushrooms in the Lepidella and Amidella sections produce primarily acute renal injury and mushrooms in the Amanita class produce an inebriating syndrome. Sources: Mendez-Navarro et al. [3] and Kirchmair et al. [4] and Kirchmair and Poder [5]