Intracranial hemorrhage associated with methanol intoxication.

ABSTRACT

Methanol is a common component of gasoline, antifreeze, washer fluid, perfume, household cleaners and various other industrial products. Acute methanol poisoning produces severe metabolic acidosis, serious neurologic sequelae and rarely imaging findings. In this paper, we describe a 35-year-old man with methanol intoxication who was in a comatose stage. Computed tomography (CT) showed widespread brain edema and hemorrhages localized in the supratentorial region of the temporal lobe, nearly 3 x 1 cm in a crescent shape, in the white matter surrounding the capsula externa and extending to the periventricular white matter and occipital lobes. Temporal lobe hemorrhage in our patient might also have been due to the effect of heparinization during hemodialysis, metabolic and lactic acidosis, or formate.