Pathology of human organic mercury poisoning: Lessons from an autopsy case.

Autor: Ekino S; Department of Histology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Honjo 860-8556, Kumamoto, Japan. Electronic address: ekino@kumamoto-u.ac.jp., Sato K; Department of Pathology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, 2-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan., Kurashige M; Department of Pathology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, 2-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan., Morii E; Department of Pathology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, 2-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan., Uozumi H; Uozumi Clinic, Izumi 862-0941, Kumamoto, Japan., Susa M; Faculty of Law, Kumamoto University, Kurokami, 860-8555 Kumamoto, Japan. Electronic address: marisu@gpo.kumamoto-u.ac.jp.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of the neurological sciences [J Neurol Sci] 2023 Dec 15; Vol. 455, pp. 122802. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Nov 21.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jns.2023.122802
Abstrakt: We had an opportunity to perform a general autopsy of a case with chronic organic mercury toxicosis in 2017. He had been engaged in synthesizing a variety of organic mercury compounds throughout the four years from 1966 and developed chronic organic mercury poisoning in 1969. Almost forty years on, he still remained to complain of persistent paresthesia at finger tips and tongue, and of narrowed visual field. Neurological examinations clarified a rise of two-point discrimination thresholds, a systemic increase of touch thresholds, constriction of the visual field caused by general visual depression, and sensorineural hearing loss while primary modalities of his somatic, visual, and auditory sensations were preserved. These symptoms and signs are characteristic of human organic mercury poisoning. Furthermore, he had difficulty in processing a lot of visual and auditory information at a time. His two-point discrimination thresholds and systemic elevation of touch thresholds were comparable to those of mild organic mercury poisoning cases. He had slight sensory ataxia, but not cerebellar ataxia. Brain [ 18 F]-2-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography analysis exhibited marked hypometabolism at bilateral postcentral gyrus, striate cortex, and superior temporal gyrus, but not the cerebellum. Histopathological studies revealed considerable decrease of granular neurons and neuronal networks in bilateral primary somatosensory, visual, and auditory cortices. Those characteristic brain lesions fairly explain increase of thresholds of somatic, visual, and auditory sensations, and degradation of integrating sensory information. It is noted that damages to the peripheral nervous system and the cerebellum were not detected and that his intellectual faculties were preserved.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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