Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
JOURNAL OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE CASE REPORTS, cilt.5, sa.12, ss.262-264, 2014 (ESCI, Scopus)
Introduction: We aim to introduce an interesting and rare case that has high potential to be encountered in our country: a methanol poisoning case. Case Report: A 48-year-old male patient stated that he had been rubbing his legs with denatured alcohol during the last 3 days due to pain in both of his legs. The patient presented to the emergency unit on the 3rd day of his symptoms with abrupt vision loss. No organic pathology could explain the vision loss. Blood gas analysis showed high anion gap metabolic acidosis, and the methanol level was 38 mg/dL. The eye examination revealed 99% vision loss. Since the patient had vision loss and deep acidosis, hemodialysis was performed. The patient was treated with ethyl alcohol and fomepizole. Additionally, 1 mg/kg prednol for 1 month was added to the treatment, based on the advice of the ophthalmologist. On the 2nd month of treatment, the visual acuity in the right eye increased to 1 and to 0.4 in the left eye. Conclusion: Methanol poisoning can be mortal if not treated properly. Physicians should consider methanol poisoning if a patient who can not give a good history presents with altered consciousness and a high anion gap, and proper treatment should be started accordingly.