Objective:
To analyze clinical features and electroneuromyography (ENMG) results of chronic mild occupational
carbon disulfide poisoning cases.
Methods:
A total of 344
patients diagnosed with chronic mild occupational
carbon disulfide poisoning based on GBZ 4-2002 Diagnostic Criteria of Occupational Chronic
Carbon Disulfide Poisoning were selected as study subjects from 2006 to 2019 using the
retrospective study method. Their clinical data was collected and analyzed.
Results:
The main symptoms of the study subjects were
dizziness,
headache,
insomnia, dreaming,
memory impairment,
numbness and weakness in the distal
extremities. Positive signs mainly included symmetrical glove and stocking distribution like
sensory disorders in the distal
extremities, and the weakening or absent
Achilles tendon reflex and
knee reflex. The
incidence of
symptoms and signs increased with the length of service (all P<0.01). The
incidence of fundus and venous changes in
patients was 41.3%, which increased with the length of service (P<0.01). ENMG examination showed varying degrees of
abnormalities in the peripheral motor and/or sensory nerves in all
patients, with a higher
incidence of motor nerve
abnormalities than sensory nerve
abnormalities (21.1% vs 3.7%, P<0.01). The
incidence of motor nerve abnormality was higher on the right side than the left side (23.7% vs 18.5%, P<0.01). The
incidences of motor nerve
abnormalities from high to low in the order were
median nerve, common
peroneal nerve,
ulnar nerve and
posterior tibial nerve (34.9% vs 27.9% vs 16.6% vs 5.1%, P<0.01). The
incidences of sensory nerve
abnormalities from high to low in the order were
median nerve,
ulnar nerve and
sural nerve (5.2% vs 5.1% vs 0.7%, P<0.01). The
incidences of left
ulnar nerve, right
ulnar nerve and right
median nerve were higher in
male patients than in
female patients (15.2% vs 5.3%, 24.0% vs 11.7%, 44.8% vs 28.7%, all P<0.05), while the
incidences of the left and right common
peroneal nerve in
lower extremity motor nerve were lower in
male patients than in
female patients (18.4% vs 52.1%, 21.2% vs 46.8%, all P<0.01).
Conclusion:
Chronic mild occupational
carbon disulfide poisoning was mainly manifested as multiple
peripheral nerve injury. ENMG results showed that the distal motor
nerve conduction abnormalities were more sensitive than the sensory
nerve conduction abnormalities, with a higher degree of impairment in the
upper limb than the
lower limb, and more impairment in the right side than the left side.