[An autopsy case of chronic germanium intoxication presenting peripheral neuropathy, spinal ataxia, and chronic renal...

We report here an autopsy case of chronic germanium intoxication with major pathological changes in the central and peripheral sensory nervous systems. The patient was a 4-year-old girl who had suffered from gait disturbance and generalized muscle weakness for 22 months. She had been given orally germanium compounds (containing germanium dioxide, 225-450 mg/day) for the previous 28 months. In addition to the findings of chronic renal failure and anemia, she presented characteristic neurological symptoms exemplified by diffuse muscle atrophy, tongue fasciculation, sensory impairment and truncal ataxia as well as areflexia. Median and ulnar sensory nerve conduction velocities were also reduced. On the 17th hospital day, she died of renal failure. In addition to conspicuous degeneration of renal tubular cells, pathological studies revealed marked nerve fiber loss, degeneration and gliosis in the dorsal column of the spinal cord, which were most conspicuous in the thoracic and cervical cord. Axonal degenerative changes were also conspicuous in the sural and sciatic nerves. High concentration of germanium was detected in the brain, cerebellum, spinal cord, sciatic nerve, liver and kidney. It was suggested that the neural involvement in the current case was caused by chronic toxicity of germanium.