Glue Sniffing: A Review

Glue sniffing and cerebral infarction.

A 12 year old boy who was a habitual glue sniffer developed a dense hemiparesis in association with an episode of glue sniffing. Occlusion of the right middle cerebral artery was found. It is postulated that the stroke was precipitated by an episode of vascular spasm.

Toxic polyneuropathy due to glue sniffing.

Four cases of toxic polyneuropathy due to glue-sniffing were reported. Neurological examination revealed motor predominant mixed type polyneuropathy. The cause of polyneuropathies in these cases was considered to be due to the inhalation of the vaporized elements of the adhesive agent, which contain mainly n-hexane and toluene. N-hexane is considered to be chiefly responsible for the polyneurop...

Physical and Psychologic Factors in Glue Sniffing.

Progressive optic atrophy and sensorineural hearing loss due to chronic glue sniffing.

A 27-year-old male developed cerebral and cerebellar atrophy over a period of five years of extensive glue sniffing. He also developed bilateral optic atrophy with blindness and severe sensorineural hearing loss. Investigation failed to show any other cause for the visual or hearing loss. Peripheral polyneuropathy and central nervous system damage may follow chronic toluene toxicity, but these ...

Glue-sniffing and distal renal tubular acidosis: sticking to the facts.

An index case is presented to introduce the subject of the acid-base and electrolyte abnormalities resulting from toluene abuse. These include metabolic acidosis associated with a normal anion gap and excessive loss of sodium and potassium in the urine. The major question addressed is, what is the basis for the metabolic acidosis? Overproduction of hippuric acid resulting from the metabolism of...