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Case Reports
. 2013 Jul;23(3):195-7.
doi: 10.4103/0971-3026.120253.

MRI brain in monohalomethane toxic encephalopathy: A case report

Yogeshwari S Deshmukh  1 , Ashish Atre  1 , Darshan Shah  1 , Sudhir Kothari  2
Affiliations
Case Reports

MRI brain in monohalomethane toxic encephalopathy: A case report

Yogeshwari S Deshmukh et al. Indian J Radiol Imaging. 2013 Jul.

Abstract

Monohalomethanes are alkylating agents that have been used as methylating agents, laboratory reagents, refrigerants, aerosol propellants, pesticides, fumigants, fire-extinguishing agents, anesthetics, degreasers, blowing agents for plastic foams, and chemical intermediates. Compounds in this group are methyl chloride, methyl bromide, methyl iodide (MI), and methyl fluoride. MI is a colorless volatile liquid used as a methylating agent to manufacture a few pharmaceuticals and is also used as a fumigative insecticide. It is a rare intoxicant. Neurotoxicity is known with both acute and chronic exposure to MI. We present the characteristic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain findings in a patient who developed neuropsychiatric symptoms weeks after occupational exposure to excessive doses of MI.

Keywords: MRI brain; Methyl iodide; toxic encephalopathy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1 (A-D):
Figure 1 (A-D):
T2W-weighted coronal image shows hyperintense signal in peri-third ventricular thalami (A), Flair axial image shows hyperintense signal in periaqueductal gray matter (B), in the superior colliculus (C), abducens nuclei and median leminiscus in the region of dorsal pons (D)
Figure 2 (A-D):
Figure 2 (A-D):
FLAIR axial image shows bilateral symmetrical hyperintense signal in inferior olivary nucle i (arrow) (A), T2W coronal image shows bilateral symmetrical signal in cerebellar dentate nuclei (arrows) (B), T1 W axial image shows bilateral nearly symmetrical hypointense signal in dentate nuclei (arrows) (C), DWI shows no restricted diffusion in dentate nuclei (arrows) (D)
Figure 3
Figure 3
T2W-weighted coronal image shows absence of altered signal in the dentate nuclei in follow-up MRI
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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