Brain Images in Fatal Methanol Intoxication

A 64-year-old man with no significant medical history was admitted to the intensive care unit with a progressive visual abnormality and he was also in a coma. Because of a rapid exacerbation of his symptoms and the onset of severe metabolic acidosis, we treated him with fomepizole due to suspected methanol intoxication, however, he never recovered from the coma. An extremely high concentration of methanol was found in his urine led to a definitive diagnosis of methanol intoxication associated with severe brain damage (1, 2). At five days after admission, diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), T2-weighted imaging and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) map revealed the symmetric and extensive range of deep white matter damage but sparing the cortex. Furthermore, T2* images suggested a