Acute methanol ingestion

Abstract

Methanol poisoning is an insidious event that can culminate in severe metabolic disturbances, permanent neurologic dysfunction, blindness, and death. Although numerous adult cases have been extensively reviewed, there is a paucity of reports about pediatric ingestions. We present a case of acute methanol intoxication in a 6-year-old male patient who presented with headache, nausea, altered mental status, and drowsiness. His blood methanol level was 350 mg/dL (109.4 mmol/L), despite the absence of any history or identifiable source of methanol. Treatment with ethanol, alkalinization, and hemodialysis resulted in full recovery without residua. Unusual facets of this case are the child's relatively older age, the extremely high methanol blood level, and, most remarkably, the complete lack of visual disturbances on routine ophthalmologic evaluation.