Volume 73 Number 8 December 2006	back to contents

From Cukurova University, School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Balcali/Adana, Turkey

Address all correspondence to Salim Satar, M.D., Cukurova University, School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, 01330 Balcali/Adana, Turkey; e-mail: ssatar@cu.edu.tr

Accepted for publication August 2006.

Abstract

Methanol is a common component of gasoline, antifreeze, washer fluid, perfume, household cleaners and various other industrial products. Acute methanol poisoning produces severe metabolic acidosis, serious neurologic sequelae and rarely imaging findings. In this paper, we describe a 35-year-old man with methanol intoxication who was in a comatose stage. Computed tomography (CT) showed widespread brain edema and hemorrhages localized in the supratentorial region of the temporal lobe, nearly 3×1 cm in a crescent shape, in the white matter surrounding the capsula externa and extending to the periventricular white matter and occipital lobes. Temporal lobe hemorrhage in our patient might also have been due to the effect of heparinization during hemodialysis, metabolic and lactic acidosis, or formate.

Key Words

Computed tomography, poisoning, methanol, imaging, temporal lobe hemorrhage

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