Methanol intoxication in the central region of Saudi Arabia: Five case studies.

Outbreaks of methanol poisoning have been described in the medical literature worldwide. However, the few outbreaks that have occurred in Saudi Arabia remain undocumented. This is especially noteworthy in light of the fact that Saudi Arabia is among the countries that explicitly prohibit the usage of alcoholic beverages and recreational drugs. Herein, we describe five cases of methanol poisoning in Saudi Arabia. The first three comprise patients admitted to the emergency room (ER) with signs of methanol toxicity, such as heart palpitations, vomiting, and blurred vision; otherwise, those patients were considered medically free. The remaining two cases were examined postmortem. A headspace gas chromatography-flame ionization detector was used to test blood, vitreous humor, and urine samples for methanol. Specific lethal concentrations of methanol were defined based on published case studies as 23-740 mg/dL in blood and 12-396 mg/dL in vitreous humor. In postmortem cases of our present study, samples exhibited lethal concentrations: 118 and 257 mg/dL in blood, 116.3 and 283 mg/dL in vitreous humor. In ER cases, methanol concentrations in urine samples were lower, at 7.5, 9.1, and 20.9 mg/dL; however, toxic symptoms were still observed. These case studies indicate that it is necessary to raise community awareness about the risk of methanol poisoning in order to minimize future poisoning epidemics.

Laryngeal carcinoma in a father and son. Possible familial risk?

[No Abstract Available].

High-Grade Transformation (Dedifferentiation) of Acinic Cell Carcinoma of the Parotid Gland: Report of an Unusual Variant.

Acinic cell carcinoma with high-grade transformation of the salivary gland is an unusual variant with less than fifty cases being reported in the literature. It is characterized by a low- and high-grade component juxtaposed with one another and tends to take on a more aggressive clinical course than its low-grade counterpart, suggesting a poor clinical outcome. We, hereby, report a case of acinic cell carcinoma in a 48-year-old woman with a 6-month history of a right parotid facial swelling rapidly increasing in size. The tumor was initially resected; however, residual focal tissue subsequently revealed areas typical of low-grade acinic cell carcinoma as well as high-grade transformation/dedifferentiation via histopathology.