ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Two workers from a headlight subassembly plant developed severe peripheral neuropathy. These workers had extensive, but brief (1-2 months) dermal and inhalational exposure to nitromethane, a solvent. METHODS: Environmental sampling was performed for nitromethane and ethyl cyanoacrylate. Medical records, including electrodiagnostic studies, were reviewed. Literature on nitromethane, ethyl cyanoacrylate, and other exposures in the workplace was reviewed. RESULTS: Electromyography and nerve conduction studies performed on these patients were consistent with a severe, axonal neuropathy. No etiology was discovered despite an extensive medical evaluation. Environmental sampling revealed exposure to nitromethane at the threshold limit value. CONCLUSIONS: The history of acute onset of severe peripheral neuropathy temporally associated with exposure to nitromethane is suggestive of a toxic neuropathy. While it cannot be definitively concluded that these two workers developed peripheral neuropathy secondary to exposures at work, occupational exposure to nitromethane appears to be the most likely etiology.
Subject(s)
Methane/adverse effects , Nitroparaffins/adverse effects , Occupational Exposure/adverse effects , Peripheral Nervous System Diseases/chemically induced , Solvents/adverse effects , Adult , Cyanoacrylates/adverse effects , Cyanoacrylates/analysis , Electromyography , Female , Humans , Male , Methane/analogs & derivatives , Methane/analysis , Nitroparaffins/analysis , Occupational Exposure/analysis , Peripheral Nervous System Diseases/physiopathology , Solvents/analysis , Threshold Limit ValuesABSTRACT
As of July 1991, 10 years after the onset of this modern pandemia, it is estimated that greater than 1 million persons worldwide have AIDS, 10 million people are HIV infected and by the end of the millenium, there will be 40 to 50 million persons infected. In the United States, 120,000 persons already have died of AIDS and 200,000 currently are infected. It has been calculated that by the year 2000, primary CNS lymphoma will be more common than meningiomas. Clearly, AIDS-related complications involving the CNS and manifested by behavioral and neurologic manifestations will remain one of the most common problems for physicians worldwide for years to come.
Subject(s)
AIDS Dementia Complex/diagnosis , Dementia/diagnosis , AIDS Dementia Complex/diagnostic imaging , AIDS Dementia Complex/pathology , Antipsychotic Agents/administration & dosage , Antipsychotic Agents/adverse effects , Antipsychotic Agents/therapeutic use , Brain/diagnostic imaging , Brain/pathology , Dementia/psychology , Female , Humans , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Male , Neuropsychological Tests , Tomography, X-Ray Computed , Zidovudine/therapeutic useABSTRACT
We report a case of cerebral abscess due to Haemophilus paraphrophilus in a 51-year-old man who was otherwise healthy and had no cardiac abnormality. A source for the infection was not definitively identified; however, the patient had had dental manipulations 2 weeks before the onset of symptoms, and an oral source is probable. The patient was treated successfully with antibiotics after removal of the abscess. Bacteriological studies are discussed.