Case report: the clinical toxicity of dimethylamine borane

Dimethylamine borane (DMAB) is a reducing agent used in nonelectric plating of semiconductors. Exposures are usually through occupational contact. We report here four cases of people who suffered from work-related exposure to DMAB.

Three patients exposed to DMAB decontaminated immediately by drinking a lot of water; they reported dizziness, nausea, diarrhea 6-8 hr later. The other patient did not decontaminate at once, and he suffered from more severe symptoms, including dizziness, nausea, limb numbness, slurred speech, irritable mood, and ataxia 13 hr later. Magnetic resonance imaging showed symmetric lesions with hyperintensity on T2WI and FLAIR in bilateral cerebellar dantate nuclei. This patient was readmitted to the hospital due to difficulty in walking and climbing 18 days after exposure. Lower leg weakness and drop foot were found bilaterally. A nerve conduction study revealed polyneuropathy with motor-predominant axonal degeneration. This patient receives regular outpatient followups and still walks with a clumsy gait and has difficulty with hand-grasping activity.

This case study demonstrates that DMAB is highly toxic to humans through any route of exposure, and dermal absorption is the major route of neurotoxicity. DMAB induces acute cortical and cerebellar injuries and delayed peripheral neuropathy.

Further investigation of the toxic mechanism of DMAB is warranted. Early decontamination with copious water is the best current treatment for exposure to DMAB.