Acute parkinsonism due to transdermal methanol intoxication: First report

Abstract

Introduction – Methanol is a colorless and highly toxic liquid similar to ethanol in odor and taste. Methanol intake can lead to severe metabolic acidosis, loss of vision, permanent neurological damage, and death. Case report – We report a case of a 19-year-old female patient who had no known disease history. A large portion of her back was covered in spirits for back pain and kept on for 2 days. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on the 5th day showed hyperintense pathologic signal changes in the T2 sequence without contrast enhancement in the bilateral frontal corticalsubcortical regions and basal ganglia. Following neurological examination of the patient, she was found to have bradymimia, marked resting tremor, bradykinesia, and dystonia on the right upper and lower extremities. Our case is important because it is the only case where parkinsonism developed as a result of acute transdermal methanol intoxication.