Brain MRI Findings of Nitrogen Gas Inhalation for Suicide Attempt: a Case Report

ABSTRACT

South Korea has the highest reported suicide rate among all countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Nitrogen is a colorless, odorless and nontoxic gas. Nitrogen gas has, however, been recently used as a method of attempted suicide, its nontoxity notwithstanding. We herein report on an unusual case involving a 30-year-old male who presented with symptoms after a suicide attempt by nitrogen inhalation. Diffusion-weighted imaging of his brain was showed curvilinear high signal intensity in the bilateral frontal and right occipital cortices, with subtle low apparent diffusion coefficient value. In addition, T2-weighted images and fluid attenuated inversion recovery images revealed subtle high signal intensity in the bilateral frontal cortices, basal ganglia and occipital cortices with contrast enhancement.