1. HglOO ml and 57 jug/100 ml and the parents finally admitted that their daughter might have been eating dirt and paint in the garden. Samples taken from an The most critical factor affecting the success of the treatment appears to be the time interval between the poisoning and the starting of treatment. In Chisholm's series of 24 cases of lead encephalopathy treated as outlined above, there were no fatalities. Consequently, to avoid further fatalities Alexander and Delves from acute lead intoxication in this country, clinicians must be more aware of the likelihood of lead poisoning, should confirm the diagnosis with a blood-lead analysis which can now be determined rapidly on a small sample of heparinized whole blood, and start treatment as soon as possible using a regimen such as outlined by Chisholm,1968