Highlights
- •We made a morphological investigation of a case series of DCE toxic encephalopathy.
- •The main clinical manifestation is headache accompanied by intracranial hypertension.
- •The neuroimaging features of 1,2-dichloroethane toxic encephalopathy are showed.
- •The patients should be treated mainly by dehydrating agents and glucocorticoids.
- •Early diagnosis and prompt treatment lead to a good outcome.
Abstract
1,2-Dichloroethane (DCE) is commonly used as an industrial organic solvent and causes
occupational diseases. Toxic encephalopathy is the most common and serious disorder
resulting from DCE intoxication. Five patients who worked in shoemaking, pipemaking
or a paint factory were identified as suffering from severe encephalopathy due to
DCE intoxication. DCE-induced toxic encephalopathy manifests as various neurological
deficits, with changes observable by neuroimaging. The main clinical manifestation
is headache accompanied by intracranial hypertension. The typical cranial CT/MR scan
of DCE toxic encephalopathy shows extensive brain edema and diffuse, symmetric, abnormal
signal intensities in the cerebellar dentate nucleus, basal ganglia, and white matter
in the bilateral cerebral hemispheres. The diagnosis of DCE toxic encephalopathy can
be confirmed by the typical clinical and neuroimaging characteristics together with
a history of exposure to substances contaminated with DCE. Dehydrating agents and
glucocorticoids are the primary treatments. With early diagnosis and prompt treatment,
promising results and recovery can be achieved. Effective prevention is expected to
reduce the incidence of DCE toxic encephalopathy.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 16, 2015
Accepted:
February 10,
2015
Received in revised form:
January 22,
2015
Received:
June 20,
2014
Identification
Copyright
© 2015 Published by Elsevier Inc.
