Metabolic disorders due to methanol poisoning

Area of Science:

• Toxicology
• Nephrology
• Cardiology

Background:

• Methanol poisoning is a serious condition with potential for organ damage.
• Early identification of metabolic derangements is crucial for patient management.
• Assessing kidney and cardiac function is important in methanol toxicity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare markers of kidney function (GFR, eGFR) and metabolic parameters in methanol poisoning patients from admission to recovery.
• To investigate the impact of methanol concentration and age on metabolic parameters at hospital admission.

Main Methods:

• Serum osmolality, methanol, ethanol, creatinine, cystatin C, Troponin I, ALT, plasma pH, and lactate were measured.
• Estimated GFR (eGFR) was calculated using both creatinine and cystatin C.
• Analysis was performed on 13 patients admitted with methanol poisoning.

Main Results:

• Significant differences were observed in serum osmolality, plasma pH, and lactate between admission and recovery.
• No significant changes in eGFR were detected between admission and recovery.
• Elevated serum Troponin I indicated myocardial necrosis in four patients; two developed acute kidney injury (AKI) prior to admission.

Conclusions:

• Methanol poisoning leads to significant metabolic disturbances and can increase markers of cardiac damage.
• Kidney function, as assessed by eGFR, did not show significant changes between admission and recovery in this cohort.
• Vision impairment can occur due to occipital lobe damage from methanol toxicity.