Delayed Complications and Long-Term Effects of SM Poisonings: Experience of Iran-Iraq War

Abstract

Among the weapons of mass destruction, Chemical Warfare Agents (CWAs) are one of the most brutal created by humankind in comparison with biological and nuclear warfare. Sulfur mustard (SM) which has the sobriquet ‘King of the Battle Gases’ has been the most widely used chemical weapons during the wars. SM was the most destructive chemical weapon used during the World War one (WWI). Thereafter, it remained the chemical weapon of choice in modern tactile warfare, as evidenced by widely use during the Iran-Iraq war. Acute and long-term incapacitating properties of SM, in combination with the lack of an antidote, significant environmental persistence, and relative ease of manufacturing, still kept it a potential agent for both military and terrorist use. Delayed complications of SM exposure can still be observed in several thousands of Iranian victims of the Iran-Iraq war. Delayed complications of SM have been reported in several organs, however, the most common delayed complications have been observed in the respiratory tracts of Iranian chemical veterans. Also, the skin lesions as well as the eye disorders have been observed in most of Iranian exposed veterans in the delayed phase of intoxication. This chapter reviewed type, severity and distribution pattern of long-term effects of SM poisoning in different organs among as well as long-term clinical managements and treatments of complications, according to the experimental and Iranian studies and experiences.