Methanol Intoxication

Abstract

The nervous system has increased susceptibility for methanol intoxication. The aim of this study is to investigate various central nervous system lesions of methanol intoxication in 17 cases autopsied in the mortuary department of the Council of Forensic Medicine in Istanbul, Turkey. The reasons of methanol intoxication in the cases was likely the unwitting ingestion of methanol while drinking illegal alcohol. Survival times ranged from several hours to days. In 8 cases (47%), cerebral edema and in 9 cases (53%) at occipital, temporal and parietal cortex, basal ganglia and pons, petechial bleeding was observed. In addition to these findings, hemorrhagic necrosis were observed in thalamus, putamen, and globus pallidus in 5 cases (29.4%) and, in cerebral cortex in another 3 cases (17.6%). In 3 of the cases (17.6%) in which cerebral edema was found, herniation findings accompanied to the situation and in 2 cases (11.7%), pons bleeding was observed. Around the basal ganglia, in 2 of the cases with hemorrhagic necrosis, the situation ended with a ventricular compression. In 7 cases (41%), the associated findings of chronic ischemic changes in cortical neurons, lacunae formation, degeneration of granular cell layer of the cerebellum, and reactive gliosis were considered as the results of chronic alcoholism.

Chronic methanol toxicity through topical and inhalational routes presenting as vision loss and restricted diffusion of the optic nerves on MRI: A case report and literature review

“…Pathology in the pons was reported in a case where it was demonstrated that foci of T2 hyperintensity in the bilateral pontine tegmentum was one of the imaging findings in severe methanol intoxication [ 10 ]. Further, in a case series of 17 patients who died of methanol intoxication, pontine hemorrhage was documented in 2 cases on autopsy [ 11 ]. The susceptibility of the pons to methanol is worth investigating, as its vulnerability with the optic nerve may not be a coincidence.…”

Visual and neurologic sequelae of methanol poisoning in Saudi Arabia

“…They had similar plasma methanol concentrations at approximately the same time after ingestion, but one patient developed brain death, and the other recovered without sequelae. 12 The pathway of methanol metabolism 2 and some of the mechanisms of injury to the optic nerve 3 , 13 and brain 14 , 15 are now relatively well understood. Methanol itself is relatively non-toxic and can be excreted unaltered through the lungs and kidneys.…”

“…A number of neuropathologic 14 and neuroimaging 24 , 25 studies have described the typical central nervous system (CNS) pathology of methanol poisoning. The most common CNS injury is bilateral hemorrhagic or non-hemorrhagic necrosis of the putamen, occurring in roughly half of all patients.…”

A Systematic Review of Ethanol and Fomepizole Use in Toxic Alcohol Ingestions

“…Methanol is commonly found in solvents, deicers, glass cleaners, as well as homemade alcohols (“moonshine”). It is metabolized to formic acid which can cause neurologic injury, optic nerve toxicity, and retinal injury resulting in vision impairment [151–153]. Ethylene glycol is found in antifreeze, brake fluids, and coolants and has a sweet taste which makes it attractive to animals and small children.…”