Case report: neuropathology of methyl bromide intoxication

The neuropathological findings in a man and his dog both of whom died after acute exposure to methyl bromide are presented. The dog had cerebral oedema, most marked in the depths of cortical sulci. The man survived 30 days after the initial illness and his brain contained well-defined symmetrical lesions in the mammillary bodies and inferior colliculi. He also had a peripheral neuropathy and lymphocytic thyroiditis. The pathology in the central nervous system has features resembling Wernicke's encephalopathology; the mechanism by which methyl bromide may produce such lesions is discussed.